Fire & Security News Update

A simple guide to Next Generation Networks (March 2010)

There has been some confusion in the Security Industry about the impact of NGN and how it will affect signalling products. To help cut through the confusion, this short guide summaries the various components included in BT's NGN strategy and outlines potential impact to the Security Industry.

Statement on BT's 21CN Voice strategy (September 2009)

BT continues to make progress in migrating customers' voice services from its traditional PSTN voice network to a new, IP-based 21CN voice platform. BT is just one of a number of communications providers in the UK making the transition to Internet Protocol.

To date, 75,000 BT lines have been successfully migrated to the new voice service in South Wales, with end users reporting the same or better quality of service from the new IP-based platform.

The platform is currently being upgraded to add additional functionality. Once this upgrade is complete, the migrations programme will continue. By the summer of 2010, BT expects to have migrated a further 275,000 lines to the new service in addition to the 75,000 lines already transferred. Having successfully migrated these 350,000 lines it will provide BT and other communications providers who resell BT's voice services with the confidence to begin the preparation for industrial migrations to BT's 21CN voice platform nationally, outside the South Wales area.

BT released to other communications providers its candidate list of exchanges that will be included in the first phase of migrations outside of South Wales. This was provided on September 3^rd 2009. As requested by other communications providers, the list will give industry a minimum of two years notice before the migrations take place and the legacy exchanges are taken out of service

The list will also reflect the slower pace of migration that BT has chosen to follow in migrating customer lines to 21CN voice. This change in approach reflects changing industry priorities that have led to an acceleration of new product introductions such as faster broadband and Ethernet, the changed economic outlook requiring a simpler approach to BT's 21CN voice migration, and the already announced plans to introduce fibre-based broadband services to the UK market.

Over the last few years, BT has led a significant testing programme of customer premises equipment, including handsets, PABXs, modems and telecare and social alarm equipment. This activity was to ensure that customers' equipment work on an all IP network in the same or similar way that it works on traditional networks. BT is the only UK provider to have invested in such a testing regime and has worked closely with the UK communications industry, the regulator, the security industry, device manufacturers and end user and special interest groups to complete this work.

The work already carried out has been fundamental to BT and the industry's overall understanding of the move to all IP networks. The investments to date in this testing schedule will continue to bring benefits as BT, and other communications providers, continue the journey to IP for voice as well as other services.