Cisco, Lucent, And Juniper To Help Build BT's Next-Gen IP Network

BT has revealed the names of three core equipment suppliers for its ambitious 21st Century IP Network (21CN) project. Cisco Systems, Lucent Technologies and Juniper Networks will be major partners in the network upgrade.

The British carrier announced that Cisco Systems will supply equipment, facilities and staff to deploy its Cisco Internet Protocol Next Generation Network (IP NGN) solutions. According to Cisco, it assembled one of the largest bid teams in its history in order to secure the contract and help build what chief executive officer John Chambers calls one of the most advanced networks in the world.

"We applaud BT for having the foresight to create a network capable of delivering the most advanced video, voice and data services to businesses and consumers globally," Chambers said in a statement. "BT's 21st Century Network represents a major step forward for the entire communications industry, and we're proud to play such a key role in its creation."

Lucent and Juniper will supply multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) core equipment that will allow the carrier to migrate its multiple service-specific networks, like asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), Ethernet and VPN services to the new convereged 21CN IP infrastructure. BT will use Juniper's M320, T640 and TX Matrix routing platforms managed with Lucent's element management system.

The goal of BT's 21CN project is to build a single IP infrastructure for the carrier's voice and data traffic. Starting next year, telephone service will move off the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to the 21CN, with the majority of these services migrated by 2008. The project, initially budgeted at almost £2 billion per year, is expected to save the company £1 billion annually by 2009, as it eliminates duplication and creates a single, multi-service network."The 21CN programme will deliver our vision of a converged, multimedia world where our customers can access any communications service from any device, anywhere - and at broadband speed," BT Wholesale chief executive Paul Reynolds said in a statement last year as he outlined the project timetable. "21CN will drive a radical simplification of BT's operations including significantly lower costs and the capability to launch new services to market faster than we can today. It will empower all our customers, giving them control, choice and flexibility like never before