BT has chosen Cardiff and the surrounding area to build and
test the first portion of its 10bn UK-wide 21st Century Network
(21CN).
The next-generation network will rely on IP technology and help BT
offer new data and voice services such as voice over IP and
video-on-demand to a wider audience.
BT will migrate 350,000 customer lines in the Cardiff area to its
21CN infrastructure, including many served by other telephone and
internet service providers and mobile operators. BT said the
experience and customer feedback from the first mass 21CN customer
migration project will help it finalise plans to roll out 21CN to
customers across the UK by the end of the decade.
The migration of Cardiff lines to the new infrastructure is
expected to begin during the second half of 2006.
More than 50 local phone exchanges will be upgraded and BT will
implement new IT systems to support the 21CN infrastructure.
Three metro area nodes or "super exchanges" will also be built in
Cardiff, Swansea and Newport.