Marconi Upgrades BT

LONDON -- Marconi (London and NASDAQ: MONI) today announced that it has been awarded a new £10 million contract by BT Wholesale to carry out an upgrade of its intelligent network (IN) platform. When complete, the programme, which is expected to take 12 months, will increase the functionality of BT Wholesale's IN by demonstrating a new open interface (Parlay), through which third parties can develop innovative applications and services capable of being hosted on the Marconi IN platform or an independent Application Server. It will also demonstrate an ability to support Internet Protocol (IP) traffic in addition to the narrowband voice and data traffic which BT's IN currently handles.The platform supports a wide range of customer services, including "1471" and "ring back when free", as well as supporting virtual private networks for BT's medium-size corporate customers. A team of Marconi engineers at the company's Coventry site will work on the project, which also includes software development and systems support. "We have been upgrading the Marconi intelligent network on a regular basis since it was originally installed some five years ago," said Dave Fallen, Head of iNetwork Capability and Applications at BT Wholesale. "These platforms enable us to deliver exciting new services to our customers. This upgrade will allow us to continue to bring exciting, value-adding services to our customers and marks a first, flexible and tactical step towards evolving our intelligent network."Marconi PLC British Telecom (BT)