News Analysis   More News Analysis

BT: Huawei's Still in 21CN Access

BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) has categorically denied rumors sweeping the financial community that Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is being ousted from the access portion of the carrier's £10 billion (US$19.5 billion) next-generation network, the 21CN.

Wall Street analysts are hearing that the Chinese vendor's MSAN (multiservice access network) gear is no longer being deployed by BT in the 21CN, which is in the early stages of being built out. (See BT Turns On 21CN, IPTV.)

But BT's Wholesale division, which is running the 21CN project, has categorically denied that Huawei is no longer involved in the high-speed access portion of the NGN rollout. "Any suggestion that Huawei is out of 21CN is misinformed. The company continues to play a full and active role in 21CN access," says Joe Kelly, BT Wholesale's communications director.

That official line was backed up by industry executives with intimate knowledge of the 21CN process. Huawei could not be contacted immediately for comment.

Huawei is one of the eight 21CN preferred vendors named by BT and is supplying access and optical transport equipment. (See BT Unveils 21CN Suppliers and Huawei Picked for BT's 21CN.)

BT's other 21CN access technology partner is Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Ltd. Access gear from both MSAN vendors is believed to be in commercial use in South Wales, where the first BT customers have been switched over from the PSTN to the new network.

The financial community is keeping a close eye on developments at BT as many of the companies they follow are either involved in the high-profile project or are waiting in the wings in case a new 21CN opportunity emerges. Nortel Networks Ltd. is the latest name added to the elite list of 21CN vendor partners. (See Nortel, Siemens Win PBT Deals at BT.)

Should an additional access equipment opportunity arise with the U.K. incumbent carrier, the most likely candidates to join Fujitsu and Huawei in the access portion of 21CN are Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), an incumbent supplier of ATM-based DSLAMs in BT's current broadband network, and Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC), which acquired Marconi in October 2005. According to sources within BT, Marconi's DSLAMs were rated very highly by the 21CN testing team, but the vendor failed to win any 21CN business. (See Ericsson Buys Bulk of Marconi and Marconi in Turmoil.)

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading
Newest Comments First       Display in Chronological Order
telspec
User Ranking
Friday February 16, 2007 10:29:48 AM
no ratings
From the perspective I have it depends on how much you lose or make on every line sold.

I suppose if the price is being subsidised it is not a problem but can that go on for ever?

To me the 21CN MSAN prices look like they are about the cost of the components used. Anyone have a take on that?
trzwuip
User Ranking
Thursday February 15, 2007 10:23:22 AM
At Huawei they have a saying

"Enough shovels of earth -- a mountain. Enough pails of water -- a river." Just wait my good friend, just wait.
commsguru
User Ranking
Thursday February 15, 2007 9:35:29 AM
How wrong could you possibly be!!! You obviously have no idea what's really going on inside BT21CN at the moment, and how Fujitsu are NOT delivering.

I think the Huawei people are sitting quietly very happy right now.
telspec
User Ranking
Thursday February 15, 2007 4:14:53 AM
no ratings
It seems that although BT have selected two suppliers (Fujitsu and Huawei) only one is getting significant business. This is what insiders are telling me.

This is how it always used to be with BT they would select two suppliers, play one off against the other to get the price right but after that it was down to performance. If you performed well you got the orders. Sounds like Fujitsu are the ones who are delivering on their promises.
LIGHT READING MARKET PLACE
Network Tool Guide
Fix Issues Faster. Choose the Right Portable Network Tools in Our Online Guide.
Master Your Asset Retrieval
OnProcess helps leading companies return inventory faster, saving $$Millions
Used and Refurbished HP ProCurve Switches
Lifetime Warranties, Professional Testing & Shipping on all HP Equipment Purchases!
Conferencing System
Enter Now to Win Two Polycom Video Conferencing Systems. Details Here!
Used and Refurbished Nortel Switches
Purchase Your Switches From Network Liquidators. Savings of Up to 90% with a Lifetime Warranty!
The blogs and comments are the opinions only of the writers and do not reflect the views of Light Reading. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
 Ethernet Academy Ad
Most Popular
Read
Related Content
White Papers SPONSORED CONTENT
Featured
Podcasts SPONSORED CONTENT
Services Transformation - by Alcatel-Lucent Communications service providers want to be able to bring new services to...
Rural Ops Bridge the Digital Divide - by Tellabs Tellabs helps IOCs build triple play networks
Driving Network Transformation - by Alcatel-Lucent In order to deal with competitive pressures, the change in service models...
Back(haul) to the Future - by Tellabs Tellabs works with Vodafone to meet growing mobile broadband demands.
MRS Logistica - by Tellabs Tellabs helps MRS Logistica transform its existing, largely outdated TDM networks to IP.
Carrier Ethernet Offers an Enterprising Solution - by Tellabs What is VPLS and how does it work? Tellabs takes a closer look.
Swisscom’s Network Makeover - by Tellabs Fresh off the launch of 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, Swisscom sees 3G as an opportunity to launch a unifying ...
Telecom in Namibia - by Tellabs Tellabs helps Telecom Namibia with next-gen challenges
Companies
Alcatel-Lucent (5872), AT&T (1948), BellSouth (848), BT (1287), Cablevision (615), Cisco (5297), Comcast (1910), Cox Communications (858), Deutsche Telekom (807), eBay (Skype) (345), Ericsson (1617), France Telecom (964), Google (489), Huawei (1045), Intel (1127), Juniper (2022), Microsoft (1115), Motorola (1486), Nokia Siemens Networks (2645), Nortel (3956), NTT (173), Siemens (1359), Sprint (1059), Telefonica (439), Time Warner Cable (969), Verizon (2587), Vodafone (510), Yahoo (339)

Broadband
Access equipment (2169), Access technologies (2378), Broadband loop carriers / multiservice access nodes (388), Cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) (1104), Cable TV chips (286), DSL (2425), DSL chips (227), DSLAMs (703), Free-space optics (35), FTTx (3265), Gaming consoles (58), Gaming servers (22), Media adapters (23), Municipal networks (106), PON (1364), PON chips (217), Satellite (497), WiMax (880), Wireless LAN (354)

Cable Digital
Cable Modems (681), Cable/MSO equipment (2802), CableLabs (470), Compression (MPEG-2 and MPEG-4) (279), Docsis (1046), Embedded multimedia terminal adapters (E-MTAs) (213), Head-ends (233), PacketCable (129), QAM (307)

Chips, Components & Subsystems
ASICs & FPGAs (101), ATCA (480), ATM chips (13), Comm chips (2360), Dispersion compensators (149), Lasers (920), Modulators (163), Mux/demuxes (299), Network processors (933), Optical amplifiers (349), Optical channel monitors (92), Optical components (2824), Speciality fiber (94), Switches & OADMs (397), Transceivers (1247), Transmission fiber (419), Variable optical attenuators (139)

Ethernet
10-Gbit/s Ethernet switches (1454), Access devices (272), ATM switches (333), Circuit emulation (16), Converged access (103), Ethernet chips (573), Ethernet equipment (2212), Ethernet over copper (231), Ethernet PONs (160), Ethernet services (1909), Ethernet technologies (568), Multipoint (131), Multiservice edge equipment (143), Multiservice provisioning platforms (622), Multiservice switches (389), PBT (Provider Backbone Transport) (256), Point-to-point (139), Pseudowire (Layer 2 tunnels) (132)

IP & Convergence
B-RASs (229), Cell/WLAN (77), Compression equipment (13), Core routers (1294), DNS (56), Edge routers (1686), ENUM (53), Fixed/Mobile Convergence (485), GMPLS (76), IMS (1088), IMS Control Layer (27), IMS Service Layer (27), IP equipment (1224), IP software (381), IP technologies (1482), IPv6 (99), Layer 3 VPNs (194), MPLS (1774), MPLS (687), Multicast (36), P2P (258), Pseudowire (Layer 2 tunnels) (132), QOS (350), SIP (396), Traffic managers (808), Wireline/Wireless (59)

Mobile/Wireless
3G Evolution (175), Broadcast (Mobile TV, etc.) (189), Carrier WiFi (226), CDMA (3G) (367), Core Network (173), EV-DO (126), Femtocells (30), Fixed Wireless (Microwave, etc.) (71), Fourth Generation (4G) Wireless (70), GSM/EDGE (430), HSDPA/HSUPA (321), IMS Core (47), Long-Term Evolution (LTE) (188), Mobile Advertising (24), Mobile Music (31), Mobile TV (130), Mobile Video (65), Mobile WiMax/WiBro (92), Mobile/Wireless (5877), Packet Core (61), Radio Access Network (236), TD-SCDMA (Chinese 3G) (67), Transmission (38), Ultra-Mobile Broadband (UMB) (8), UMTS(3G) (340), Voice Core (21), WiMax (880), Wireless Backhaul (272), Wireless Chips (191), Wireless LAN (354)

Optical Networking
40-Gbit/s transmission (452), Core optical switches (760), CWDM (289), DWDM (1842), Long-haul WDM equipment (654), Metro optical switches, ROADMs (1173), Metro WDM equipment (773), Multiservice provisioning platforms & add/drop muxes (375), Optical equipment (2191), Optical switches & crossconnects (398), Optical technologies (417), Sonet/SDH (1036), Sonet/SDH chips (351), Wavelength services (305)

Security
Anti-virus (29), Denial-of-service attacks (44), Encryption (97), Endpoint security (22), Firewalls (61), Intrusion detection & prevention (45), IPSec VPN (801), Security (1835), SSL VPN (862), URL filtering (12), User authentication (24)

Services Software
Activation (415), Billing systems (761), Content/software downloads (231), Customer relationship management (231), Data Integrity (61), Element management systems (36), Fault management (69), Inventory management (153), Mediation systems (204), Messaging (231), Middleware (72), Mobile location (41), OSS (2584), Performance monitoring (335), Policy control (269), Provisioning (553), Revenue assurance & fraud management (334), Service delivery platforms (SDPs) (328), Service management (220), Service-oriented architectures (310), Services (2480), Web gateways (56), Web services (124), XML (51)

Test & Measurement (Sponsored by Etaliq Inc)
Access equipment Access test & measurement equipment (126), Comm chips Comm chips test & measurement equipment (29), Ethernet equipment Ethernet test & measurement equipment (170), IP equipment IP test & measurement equipment (122), MPLS MPLS test & measurement equipment (14), Optical components Optical components test & measurement equipment (113), Optical equipment Optical test & measurement equipment (886), OSS OSS test & measurement (1059), Sonet/SDH Sonet/SDH test & measurement equipment (1599), Test & measurement (1755), VOIP equipment VOIP test & measurement equipment (145)

Video (Sponsored by Ericsson Televisionary)
Broadcast (Mobile TV, etc.) (189), Broadcast video equipment (including encoding) (730), Content delivery network (CDN) (394), Content protection (270), DVRs (665), Internet Video (840), IPTV (3461), Middleware & business support systems (845), Set-top boxes (1624), Stored video servers (379), TV (3581), Video equipment (2448), Video services (4130), Video software (1349), Videophone (185), VOD (2635)

VOIP
Application servers (186), Centrex (198), Conferencing (78), Contact centers (38), Enhanced voice (34), Enterprise (637), Media gateways (357), Messaging (73), Presence management (43), Residential (835), Session border controllers (398), Signaling gateways (104), Softswitches (1090), VOIP chips (167), VOIP equipment (3423), VOIP services (3768), VOIP software (620), VOIP VPNs (28), Wholesale (220)