Network users can now run non-IP protocols using Ethernet over
BT's 21CN IP network at speeds up to 1Gbit/s for around half
the cost of BT Megastream connections.
Neil Sutton, BT's proposition and capability director, said the
Etherflow product, as it is known, is aimed at high-end users
such as international companies, retailers, police forces and
central and local government agencies.
"These customers often have global, national and regional tiered
networks, often with data replication needs, but would like a
single core network," he said.
He said customers could buy capacity in 1Mbit/s chunks from
10Mbit/s up to 100Mbit/s, and in 10Mbit/s chunks for speeds up to
1Gbit/s.
BT is pricing Etherflow aggressively. "We worked on a quotation
for a Scottish law firm recently. It worked out at £26,000 a year
on Megastream, but £13,000 a year on Etherflow," said Sutton.
With Etherflow a user can double their bandwidth for a 20% cost
increase, he said. Customers can also tune their capacity
requirements month by month, and BT is working on a plan to let
them do this day by day.
BT is offering Etherflow both managed and unmanaged. "It depends
on users' skills levels," he said. "For instance, if they don't
want to be bothered with managing their IP addresses, we can do it
for them."
The service uses a combination of fibre and copper cables.
Sutton said that by March next year 600 exchanges covering 90% of
the country would have gigabit capacity. It will offer
international Etherflow services from 2009.