THE NETWORK HAS GONE SOFT
Matt Beal, Director of Strategy, BT Design
Traditionally we’ve always liked to think that network engineering is hard. Hard because we were the smart ones who could do difficult things with hard switched networks.
But today the emphasis is all on software. Certainly, it’s fair to say that software is now just as critical as the physical fibres and network components which make up the tangible network.
And this is exemplified by the very software-focused approach of BT’s 21st century network (21CN), our ambitious and exciting next generation network transformation programme.
21CN will enable a new generation of communication services, transforming people’s personal and business lives. Utilising soft-switching it will provide a highly flexible, open standards-based network architecture. This opens up the ability to quickly create and deploy new services in contrast to the limitations of the traditional circuit-switched telecom network.
Importantly, through BT’s 21CN, Communications Providers will be able to interact or ‘hook’ into the network and alter certain elements themselves to meet their own customers’ needs. This further increases their ability to offer differentiated services nationwide.
Wholesale Broadband Connect, for example, is a new generation of wholesale broadband with line speeds of up to 24Mbit/s. On track to be made available from early 2008, it will allow CPs to really take advantage of 21CN. It will enable cost-effective, high-quality delivery of feature rich services and applications to their customers. This will be alongside quicker and simpler ordering and fault reporting and much greater flexibility of billing.
BUILDING BLOCKS
With today’s consumers driving change at a rapid pace, services need to be launched, upgraded and potentially retired more quickly than ever before. Wholesale operators must be ready to provide an ever-expanding portfolio of solutions. These should be offered in tailored packages so each CP can meet the needs of their end users. Focus needs to be on reducing complexity and providing more innovative, bundled services that can quickly give CPs the increased leverage they need to successfully compete in today’s marketplace.
To do this, services need to be built with reusable functions that can be deployed quickly to construct multiple products and solutions. In parallel to the deployment of the 21CN network infrastructure, we are simplifying our wholesale product portfolio and componentising it to that end.
Today we have hundreds of products based on different network assets and technologies and tens of thousands of combinations of physical product, service wrap and payment schemes. 21CN will streamline these to deliver a mix and match of new reusable common components such as presence, security and user profile. This is revolutionising the way BT’s wholesale customers can package and sell their services. By building services in this way it will mean the time required to take a concept from idea to launch will be cut from an average of 18 months to less than six and in some cases to just a few days. Services can be set up more cheaply, be more robust and flexible and end-to-end delivery can be assured. This means that as end-user requirements and technology evolve, it will be easier for CPs to develop and roll out innovative and reliable new services to meet these changing needs.
UNLEASHING THE POWER OF SOFTWARE BT’s 21CN is designed to have the ability to flex its capacity and connectivity to meet the variety of needs of users and support the growth in data rich applications. Responding to customer needs for next generation self service solutions, BT has developed a new carrier Ethernet service based solely on 21CN components. It brings the control and flexibility for CPs to configure the service as their customers demand.
It enables CPs to provide high-bandwidth connectivity speeds of up to 500Mbps to their customers who want to connect multiple sites. However, the new Ethernet solution goes far beyond simple connectivity. It delivers customers with scalable bandwidth connectivity. This allows them to flex their bandwidth requirements up or down as and when required, knowing it will be activated in near real time. With an intuitive, real time self service capability CPs can manage and control their Ethernet service through a single graphical user interface. Customers can use this to check items such as service availability, quotes, order placement, tracking and repair.
BT is committed to defining the right solutions to the real business problems our customers face. Central to our approach is harnessing the possibilities that the growing importance of software plays in the digital economy. We are focused on ensuring CPs can seize the benefits of delivering software driven services over our broadband network. This will enable them to provide their customers with faster, more innovative and cost effective services wherever they are in the world.
To this end, we have created Web21c which in simple terms is Web 2.0 running on our 21CN global network. It brings together our plans to build an on-demand computing infrastructure, or Virtual Service Platform (VSP), underpinned by our 21CN capabilities and reusable platforms. We are also building software development kits (SDKs) which are opening up our network capability to third party developers. By placing our capabilities in the environment that developers are used to working in, it means they can innovate and create new services without having to be an expert in telecoms protocols and infrastructure.
21CN – EMPOWERING CUSTOMERS LIKE NEVER BEFORET
o take advantage of the digital economy, CPs are looking wider than their traditional core business areas. BT is in a position to help our customers achieve competitive differentiation in a market where competition is fierce and off-the-shelf products and services are broadly similar in price and performance. 21CN is designed to empower end-users, businesses and CPs with control, choice and flexibility like never before.
The world is moving so fast that we all have to be driven by customer demand.
The network might have gone soft but that doesn’t mean we have. Far from it.There is a real strength in 
focusing on the capabilities delivered by the advantages of software development to enhance what we can offer to our customers.
There is simply no alternative. A longer version of this article first appeared in the event documentation for this year’s Carriers World Expo where Matt was one of the keynote speakers