BT unveiled four innovations aimed at transforming its broadband DSL service across the UK.
Flexible Bandwidth: DSL users will be given the power to temporarily boost their bandwidth to up to 2 Mbps for faster downloads of premium content, such as DVD-quality streamed videos or online gaming. Users who continually need to accelerate their broadband speed will be given the option to instantly upgrade to a higher tier DSL service. A trial of these capabilities is scheduled to start next month.
BT Rich Media: working in partnership with Real Networks, BT is launching a platform to drive the management and distribution of digital content. The companies will provide the tools to allow anyone to create and distribute content themselves. The platform is expected to enable thousands of content publishers, from major record labels to local football teams. BT Rich Media will be launched on April 6.
BT Communicator: working in partnership with Yahoo!, BT is will roll out an integrated call management application aimed at the mainstream consumer. The application, which will include VoIP capabilities, takes the features and functionality of Yahoo! Messenger and integrates telephony capabilities, such as PC to phone calling, Internet call waiting, directory lookup, etc. All calls made using Yahoo! Messenger with BT Communicator will be billed directly to the customer’s home phone bill. The application enables users to manage all their communications – phone calls, emails, instant messaging and text messages – together in one place. BT Communicator will be made available for trial in May.
BT Remote Management System: – enhances network support capability in the broadband home. This will allow troubleshooting and diagnosis of broadband service issues using information from BT, provided from intelligent home network routers in a customer’s home. The system will be live later in 2004.
Pierre Danon, chief executive of BT Retail, described the initiative as “the second stage of the broadband revolution in the UK.”http://www.yahoo.comhttp://www.bt.com
- In February, BT passed two million wholesale broadband connections. The latest million connections have come in little more than eight months.
- In January 2003, Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe and MetaSwitch disclosed the deployment of their VoIP solution for the newly launched BT Broadband Voice Service, which lets broadband users gain access to the BT voice network via an Integrated Access Device (IAD) or Telephony Adapter. The VoIP platform is based on the MetaSwitch VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch. BT has become one of the first major European operators to offer emulated PSTN services using VoIP. Fujitsu has also developed an Operational Support System, which allows the linkage between the components of the platform, the support systems within BT and the bt.com website.
