All 21CN trials undertaken so far have been closed technical trials of 20CN services running over the new 21CN network and have been fairly low key. That will change over the next few months as various wholesale and managed broadband ISPs ready themselves and their customers for January 2008 when the first new 21CN broadband services will be available for public trial for the first time. BT have estimated that 50% of the country will be able to get 21CN broadband by the end of 2008, 65% by the end of 2009 and the entire 21CN rollout will be completed by 2011.
This new broadband network should be particularly interesting to the business channel and has several distinct advantages over IPStream;
- ADSL is being upgraded to be a true business product with 1 day activations and a five hour fault resolution time.
- By moving off the old ATM network BTW expect the reliability of ADSL to at least match that of ISDN.
- With speeds up to 24Mbit/s in every exchange, a more robust product and a business-grade SLA, ADSL will start to really eat into the leased line market.
- 21CN offers true Quality of Service (QoS) and bandwidth reservation. This will create significant opportunities for ISDN replacement and is the final piece in the converged solutions puzzle.
Many ISPs, particularly some of the smaller ones, will not have the expertise, capital or will to invest in new network and software and we may be in for a period of consolidation in this sector. For the reseller, the alternative to training or hiring IP skills into your own organisation is to work with a well established and technically competent supplier that can offer a managed 21CN service and is prepared to support your sales effort with pre and post sales expertise.
Source: Comms Dealer September.
"This new broadband network should be particularly interesting to the business channel and has several distinct advantages over IPStream."
- Andrew Dickinson, Sales and Marketing Director, Griffin Internet .
Andrew Dickinson
