Fujitsu Hits Major MSAN Milestones for BT 21CN Multi Service Access Node Roll-Out

Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Limited announced today that it has contributed to two significant milestones involving the roll-out of Multi Service Access Nodes (MSANs) across BT’s new 21st Century Network, known in the industry as 21CN. The first milestone was the completion of the MSAN installation at all 64 exchanges in South Wales, which comprises the initial phase of BT’s 21CN deployment. This involved the supply and installation of some 164 MSANs, comprising 104 copper and 60 fibre in total. In parallel, Fujitsu has also completed the installation of the 34 exchanges required to enable a major trial of next generation broadband services, also involving a combination of copper and fibre MSANs. These next generation broadband services will be rolled out to some 60,000 customers in the West Midlands later this year, before extending the new service nationally early in 2008. With the installation and commissioning of these latest 100 sites, Fujitsu now has almost 300 MSANs deployed in the 21CN.

These latest developments are part of an intensive collaborative schedule on a number of strategic phases of the 21CN programme, involving the concurrent installation of a test access matrix, in tandem with the first phase of migration in South Wales this year, and the beginning of customer upgrades nationally from early next year. The process has involved the exhaustive testing and proving of some 2000 services prior to roll-out, conducted by BT in its integrated next generation testing facilities alongside Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe and other suppliers. With testing of the end-to-end network elements successfully achieved, 60% of the installed Fujitsu MSANs are now connected to 21CN fibre rings, Metro nodes and iNodes. All elements of this network are fully managed by BT’s new 21CN OSS (Operational Support System).

Mike Mochizuki, Chief Operating Officer, Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe, commended the teamwork that made this achievement possible: “Fujitsu is extremely proud to be part of this revolutionary enterprise, realising the world’s first all IP-based network. The scale of the project is without precedent, breaking new technological ground on every front. Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe has supplied and installed all of the MSANs required to support the first phase of migration in South Wales, providing a fully operational platform for the migration of 350,000 customers this year. We are also playing a key role in the installation of MSAN equipment to support national migration, which is scheduled to begin early next year.

“Teamwork is the key to achieving this historic transition. As one of the two companies responsible for providing the key access element at more than 5,500 BT exchanges, Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe has undertaken a significant £multi-million investment programme for 21CN at its European HQ in Birmingham, where we design, manufacture, deploy and support our MSAN equipment. This has involved a major recruitment programme across engineering, manufacturing, installation and support, increasing the headcount by more than 20%, complemented by Fujitsu engineers seconded from Japan. At Fujitsu here in the UK, every single employee is committed to playing their part to ensure the success of 21CN.”