Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU – News) and BT Group (London SE: BT Group) today announced the signing of a contract for innovative new technology that will sit at the heart of BT’s all-Internet protocol (IP), 21st Century global network. The award of this contract today follows BT’s selection of Lucent as a preferred bidder for the core of the network, and subsequent successful testing and development work conducted throughout the summer.
Lucent will help BT deploy a more efficient core network that will enable it to offer customers a diverse set of feature-rich services including voice, broadband, Ethernet, virtual private networking (VPN) services and IP VPN — as well as supporting established packet data capabilities such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) transport services — over the MPLS core.
In the UK, BT’s 10 billion Pounds Sterling 21st Century Network (21CN) programme involves the migration of 30 million customer lines and the withdrawal of the legacy voice (PSTN) platform. 21CN will deliver today’s and future services, sending them through one dedicated IP network.
BT Wholesale chief executive Paul Reynolds said: “With 21CN, BT and our suppliers are leading the world in next generation networks. Where we go with 21CN, others will follow and the experience gained and expertise developed in this transformation of BT’s network will set the standard for other NGN deployments. We’re moving forward strongly with world class suppliers and the first customers in the UK will start enjoying services over 21CN within 12 months.”
Lucent is one of the suppliers providing network equipment, its deployment and maintenance services in the core domain element of BT’s infrastructure upgrade — one of the world’s largest — which is already underway. “We are proud to be providing a key element in this revolutionary all IP next-generation network, which will position BT as a world leader in the implementation of new technologies,” said Andy Williams, President of Lucent Europe. “It is a significant step forward in the strong relationship we have forged with BT, which will play a key role in ensuring the health and well-being of the U.K’s future economy.”
Lucent is working with Juniper Networks to provide BT with best-in-class solutions that enable carriers around the world to create innovative and revenue-generating services, which will be installed and maintained by Lucent Worldwide Services. Based on Juniper Networks M320, T640 and TX Matrix routing platforms, the new core MPLS network will enable BT to converge multiple service-specific networks into a single, robust, reliable and flexible architecture that will carry a breadth of new and existing services over a common IP/MPLS core.
Lucent Worldwide Services provides multi-vendor support for many companies and carriers, including remote and on-site technical support, along with professional and managed services. It is also engaged in major migration projects taking legacy networks and migrating them over to next-generation all-IP technology.