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Alcatel, Ciena, Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei, Lucent, Siemens get 'preferred supplier' status
April 28, 2005
LONDON -- BT today took a major step towards delivering its 21st Century Network with the selection of its preferred suppliers. The 21st Century Network is the world’s most radical next generation network transformation programme. It will require an investment by BT of up to £10 billion over the next five years and will put the UK at the cutting edge of innovation, providing industry with a real competitive advantage, and consumers with a world-class communication service for the 21st Century.
The announcement is the culmination of two years of discussions and negotiations with over 300 potential technology suppliers from all corners of the world. This is has been an extremely competitive process in what is one of the largest single procurement programmes ever undertaken in the communications industry.
A final list of eight preferred suppliers has been chosen to work with BT in five strategic domains:
1. Fujitsu and Huawei have been chosen in the access domain which will link BT’s existing access network with the new 21CN.
2. Alcatel, Cisco and Siemens have been selected as preferred suppliers for metro nodes which provide routing and signalling for 21CN’s voice, data and video services.
3. Cisco and Lucent will be 21CN’s preferred suppliers for core nodes providing high capacity and cost efficient connections between metro nodes.
4. Ericsson has been selected in the i-node domain – in essence the intelligence that controls the services.
5. Ciena and Huawei have been chosen in the transmission domain to supply the optical electronics that will convert the signals carried at high capacity over the cables connecting the metro and core nodes.
The selection of these eight suppliers will allow dozens of smaller and innovative subcontractors to become involved in the delivery of the 21st Century Network. The programme will attract significant new investment and employment to the UK.
Matt Bross, BT Group’s chief technology officer said: “The capability that BT is putting in place through this investment in 21CN is unequalled anywhere in the world. It will enable us to introduce new services at a speed that is simply impossible today.”
Paul Reynolds, BT Wholesale chief executive, the BT Board member responsible for the programme, added: “21 CN is a key infrastructure that will fuel the UK economy and provide a flexible way for consumers to use new services. The selection of the preferred suppliers is an incredibly important building block towards that vision. 21CN will also radically reduce BT’s cost base, with identified savings of around one billion pounds a year.”In order to achieve world class delivery of the programme, the selection of suppliers has been about much more than choosing technology and selecting partners. The commercial agreements, which the company expects to conclude over the summer, will include open standards and a focus on whole life costs.
BT Group plc
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