BT has set a high bar for its 21st Century Network (21CN), but advancing this initiative forward will take bandwidth, and lots of it. With content delivery capabilities, particularly video, being a key focus of BT's 21CN drive for its retail and wholesale customers, the incumbent operator is turning to Alcatel-Lucent and its High Leverage Network (HLN) architecture and transformational services.
With residential services being a key focus of this deployment, Alcatel-Lucent will not only provide enhanced hardware, but also professional services.
Neither BT nor Alcatel-Lucent had to look too far to find the necessary platforms it needed for the 21CN network upgrade. Already powering its Etherflow business service, BT will deploy an enhanced version of Alcatel-Lucent's 7750 Service Router that will also take on the role as a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG). Serving both business and residential traffic needs, the routers will be deployed in a distributed fashion to increase capacity and provide an enhanced customer experience. BT will also leverage Alcatel-Lucent's 1830 Photonic Service Switch for multiple traffic aggregation.
Along with necessary hardware, Alcatel-Lucent will be able to apply its services acumen in the project by providing project management, design, installation and commissioning, repair and return and software updates.
"21CN is a huge transformational programme. It's about providing a network for the future which requires a game-changing approach." said George Nazi, managing director, BT 21CN Core Convergence in a release. "Alcatel-Lucent came up with an innovative solution that will help us keep 21CN at the forefront of innovation and radical change."
Although Alcatel-Lucent has had a spot in BT's network, the latest win provides some validation against aggressive vendor challengers such as Huawei and ZTE.
For more:
- TeleGeography has this article
- see the release here
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