Posted: 07th Dec, 2005 By: MarkJ
BT has admitted that, in order for its 21st Century Network (21CN) plan to succeed, much of its old network must go before the decade is out:
Speaking at the FT World Telecommunications Conference in London on Tuesday, Dr Paul Reynolds, chief executive of BT Wholesale, admitted that BT can't afford to run today's legacy equipment in parallel with new Internet Protocol-based infrastructure.
"People say to us, can't your PSTN equipment run for another fifteen years? Well, in pure engineering terms it can... but the cost and complexity of running legacy equipment alongside a new IP network will bust the business case for 21CN," said Reynolds.
Last year, BT announced that it plans to spend £10bn over the next few years to replace its existing Web of legacy networks with 21CN.The
ZDNet item also notes how, under pressure from those fearing the operator would ignore rural areas, theyre keen to enable universal coverage.
It's interesting to note how 'legacy' is not defined, in that it may or may not include the most restrictive aspect of BT's existing infrastructure, the old copper wires. The future should be fibre.