BT offers ISPs access to 21st Century Network

May 1, 2008 – BT has started offering UK Internet service providers (ISPs) access to its 21st Century Network from this week, initially enabling around 1mn households to access the ADSL2+ lines.

The telco went on to say that the new wholesale service, called Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC), will reach a “potential footprint of 10mn homes and businesses by the spring of 2009”, but cannot guarantee that all customers will have access to the theoretical maximum speed of 24 Mbps due to its copper-based limitations.

“In order to support the rising tide of new multimedia applications and multiplay services delivered over broadband, communications providers require a new set of tools to enhance the broadband experience,” said Sally Davis, CEO of BT Wholesale. “Wholesale Broadband Connect has been developed with this in mind, offering communications providers a wide range of functions that will help set them apart in this rapidly changing market.”

Some UK ISPs, including Sky, Be and O2, have already started offering ADSL2+ connections by installing their own technology in telephone exchanges, while incumbent telcos elsewhere in the world are already deploying, or have deployed, fibre to the home (FTTH) networks capable of 100 Mbps symmetrical download/upload speeds for the consumer.