BT top for UK Ethernet availability

BT has leapfrogged both Virgin Media and Cable & Wireless to take the top spot for Ethernet availability across the UK.

Ethernet nodes BT’s 21st century network (21CN) Ethernet footprint now totals more than 450 nodes from which customer orders are being taken. This is 150 more than former leader Virgin Media and 200 greater than Cable & Wireless, which is down from second to third place.

BT says it is on track to reach more than 600 nodes across the UK by the end of March and it has already won a number of major customer orders for its new 21CN-based Ethernet service.

BT Wholesale has signed Ethernet deals worth £750 million to help four of the UK’s five mobile operators cope with the growth in 3G network data - and the fixed operator interest is also growing.

BT Global Services is selling Etherflow to enterprise customers and Openreach is successfully marketing Ethernet Backhaul Direct, supporting more than 600,000 UK homes and businesses.

"It's remarkable what the strength of BT can achieve when we put our minds to it," said George Nazi, managing director of BT’s 21CN programme. "We've moved from nowhere to top spot in less than one year. This is a fantastic achievement right across BT and we're not done yet."

Brian Fitzpatrick, managing director of BT Wholesale markets, said: "Without a compelling Ethernet service, there’s major business we’d lose and new business we couldn’t bid for. This creates a range of significant new opportunities for which BT can compete and win."