Ericsson Tuesday won a $180 million British Telecom contract to supply the
telecom with next-generation switch nodes, upgrading BT’s network to enable both narrowband and broadband Internet services.
The agreement is part of a $440 million agreement which the two companies
signed in January. The Swedish company will deploy up to 51 Ericsson AXE/AXD
301 hybrid (narrowband/broadband) nodes for BT’s inter-city backbone
network. The deal also includes a management component for the new services.
The hybrid nodes will allow BT to offer both narrowband and broadband
services over the same backbone, and also marks the largest implementation of Ericsson’s network migration strategy. BT needs the services to meet the requirements of rising voice and data traffic, the company said.
Telia Denmark and Dutch-based KPN International will follow next in
implementing Ericsson’s (ERICY) migration strategy.