What is 21CN?
BT's strategy & key objectivesDelivering new applications for the future
Image3421CN progress
Consult21Key milestonesSouth Wales implementationUK RolloutGlobal implementation21CN - Built on robust foundationsCustomer premises equipment testingPhoto gallery
Image3421CN technology
21CN technology in the UK21CN technology globally21CN domain descriptions21CN key technologies21CN systems21CN key characteristicsCall paths across 21CN21CN and standardsGlossary
Image3421CN benefits
UK economyMarkets BT serves outside the UKConsumersSmall & medium enterprisesCorporates and the public sectorCommunication providers
Image3421CN newsImage34BT customers
21CN news

Print This Page

UK and global implications FAQs

Is 21CN unique to the UK?
21CN is a single company-wide programme that is being implemented in two delivery strands to address BT's dual role as an incumbent and alternative network provider (Altnet).

In the UK where BT is the incumbent operator, windows of customer-led migration to new services, such as Ethernet and next generation broadband, will be followed by periods of mass migration allowing BT’s legacy networks to be switched off. With BT's Global 21CN platform now available in 170 countries worldwide, BT is committed to ensuring that customers throughout the markets it serves benefit from its 21CN investment.

Will everybody in the UK feel the benefits of 21CN?
21CN will be delivered across the UK.

What will the implementation of 21CN outside the UK mean for BT’s global customers?
BT's Global 21CN platform is now available in 170 countries worldwide.

Building a single integrated global IP platform that supports the convergence of voice, video and data is the foundation stone for the delivery of a more simple, seamless, integrated communications experience for BT’s multi-national corporate customers. It provides office-based, remote and mobile users with a completely new service wrap of richer, more intuitive services. It allows customers to customise and tailor communications to suit their needs enabling businesses to create an agile infrastructure that is shaped by their own business objectives and processes.

Is BT's 21CN a world first?
BT’s 21CN programme is radical and is being watched with interest around the globe.

Although there are examples of the thinking and to a certain extent, deployment of this kind of network transformation in different parts of the world, BT’s 21CN programme is likely to be a first in its range and scale. However the technologies to be deployed will almost all have been deployed elsewhere - just not together.

What exactly is the 21C Global Venture?
Communication providers around the world can now benefit from BT's experience of designing and building 21CN. BT's 21C Global Venture offers an end-to-end solution for communications providers across the globe wanting to make the transition from a traditional telco to a Next Generation Network (NGN) communications provider. BT is ideally placed to offer others the wealth of our NGN experience and know-how across products, technology, processes, systems, organisation and business culture.