What Is 21st Century Network?

21st century network, or 21CN is BT's next generation network – an advanced communications network for the future.

21CN is designed to replace a century of legacy and empower the end-user with control, choice and flexibility like never before – offering communications from anywhere to any device. This ambitious and exciting programme will enable a new generation of rich personal and converged services, transforming people's personal and business lives.

Read the 21CN vision Paul Reynolds, Chief Executive of BT Wholesale, delivered to an industry event in 2005 by clicking here.  http://www.btwholesale.com/application?origin=children.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.

For more information on 21CN, please visit http://www.btwholesale.com/Consult21

The benefits of 21st century network (21CN) 

Opening the door to more varied and flexible services in the future – discover more about the benefits of 21st century network (21CN) for you and your end users.

True convergence is gaining momentum. The boundaries between mobile and fixed-line services; between voice, data and video; between computing and telecoms; and between devices are becoming increasingly blurred. Now wouldn’t it be great if you could access messages, data or video on any device at any time? Wouldn’t it be great if you could move seamlessly between the written and spoken word on the same call?  Wouldn’t it be great if you never had to think about bandwidth because it’s as wide as you need it all of the time? 

Convergence is the future for communications and BT’s 21CN programme is the underlying infrastructure to deliver and support it. By empowering customers with control, choice and flexibility like never before, BT believes 21CN will radically enhance and transform the way we work and live. Services based on the convergence of voice, mobility, video, data and content are now being developed and launched. Examples include, BT Fusion – a service that is a fixed line phone when you are at home or in the office and a mobile when you are away, switching seamlessly between the two – and BT Movio – delivering live television and radio broadcasts direct to your mobile phone.

21CN is about supporting the next generation of services – developed by BT and service providers – and getting them to market up to three times faster than at present. And creativity won’t just be restricted to the traditional companies. 21CN will open service creation to others, and many will come from unexpected places. But all will need the power of the network to function and deliver the experience.

We cannot predict the specific products and services of the future, but why not take a look at examples of what may well become commonplace in the 21CN world for consumers, SMEs, corporates/the public sector and communications providers by visiting the ‘What are the benefits?’ section  of the 21CN web site – www.bt.com/21cn