BT today revealed the next phase of its investment in the rollout of its next-generation network entitled 21CN, which will directly link Letterkenny, Derry, Belfast and Dublin and connect them with over 1,270 cities worldwide through BT’s global network.
The fibre-optic network, which will be operational from August of this year, will extend from Dublin to Letterkenny, connecting Belfast and Derry along the route through Points of Presence (PoPs).
Initial speeds of up to 10 Gigabytes per second (Gbps) are available, but can be scaled up where required by customers.
According to BT, over 330,000 homes and businesses in the Republic of Ireland have access to super-fast broadband speeds of up to 24Mbps, following the company’s investment in unbundling 22 telephone exchanges nationwide.
In Northern Ireland, Belfast was chosen as one of the first areas in the UK to benefit from broadband speeds of up to 40Mbps through BT’s investment in fibre to the cabinet technology (FTTC). The company also introduced Ethernet services – uncontended, faster bandwidth for a fraction of the cost of traditional networks.
According to BT, this latest development will address the limited choice of high-capacity communications networks, particularly in the north west. By enhancing its infrastructure in this way, BT aims bring higher bandwidth, competitive pricing and next-generation services to businesses in these locations.
BT will use two links between each location to ensure that there is both a primary network and secondary back up network to guarantee 99.99pc reliability. The infrastructure is also futureproofed to allow BT to expand the network when required to support the growing demand for broadband services.
The CEO of BT in Ireland Chris Clark said that in an increasingly difficult economic climate, BT has continued to make a number of strategic investments in its network infrastructure to expand the range of next-generation services it provides to customers across all market segments, while simultaneously reducing prices.
“Navigating through challenging economic times means we need to seize any opportunities that will give us a competitive edge,” Clark said.
“Our strategy is straightforward – the development of a world-class next-generation network will help all of us to seek out future growth opportunities, whether through access to new markets, attracting foreign direct investment or driving productivity and efficiency in our organisations.”
By John Kennedy
