Hello ‘mixed economy’. Goodbye ‘one size fits all’

A new era is dawning for the UK's broadband providers and for broadband users. The latter's increasing demands for a wider choice of broadband services are adding fresh energy and pace to the market as it takes on a 'mixed economy' identity. 

BT Wholesale's Director of Broadband and Content Services Sian Baldwin explains: "It's no longer a case of 'one size fits all'. Businesses and households want to be able to choose the broadband service that suits their needs best - whether it's delivered over copper, fibre or mobile networks. And it's not always about speed" she adds. "It's also about lifestyle choices - and at BT Wholesale our rich broadband portfolio is here to equip Communications Providers (CPs) to offer their customers that vital mix of services to match all tastes and pockets."

Included in that portfolio is BT Wholesale's copper-based next generation broadband service - Wholesale Broadband Connect. This is already available to 40% of the UK - more than 10 million homes - and is expected to expand to over 55% by next March. It means that CPs can gain the edge by offering their customers speeds of up to 24Mbit/s*, supporting High Definition TV and other bandwidth-hungry entertainment services that are growing in importance for UK viewers.

And for Providers looking for even higher speeds, BT Wholesale's access fibre broadband services are being trialled in Ebbsfleet, North Kent. Here, fibre-to-the-cabinet technology (FTTC) is already delivering burstable broadband speeds of up to 100Mbit/s: an attractive proposition to serve the needs of home-workers, gamers and fans of simultaneous entertainment services. This summer FTTC pilots start in London and Cardiff - and by Spring 2010 roll-out is expected to be in reach of more than one million end-users.

Meanwhile the growing numbers of people caught up by the magic of mobile broadband are also in the frame. Less visibly but equally significantly, we have been laying the essential foundations that Mobile Services Providers need to deliver high-quality broadband. It's our BT Wholesale Ethernet network - established as the UK's largest in March 2009 with more than 600 21CN Ethernet nodes UK-wide. While BT Wholesale Ethernet primarily supports communications within individual organisations, it also offers hidden benefits to the broadband 'mixed economy' by providing backhaul for next generation services and linking mobile base stations. That is helping Providers to meet the explosion in market demand for broadband from a population that's increasingly living life on the move.

There's plenty of scope for ambitious new market entrants too. Our new pay-as-you grow managed service - BT Plusnet Partner - can help a company to become an ISP within a matter of weeks. And buying additional services from BT Plusnet Partner means that established Providers too can expand their horizons - and their potential customer base - by advancing beyond their current territory but without the high costs of infrastructure self-build. While CPs who have taken over the local loop at telephone exchanges and cable network operators also stand to gain.

"The growth of the 'mixed economy' marks the beginning of a new chapter in the UK's broadband story" Sian concludes. "It's underpinning more and more customer choice and new software-driven web 2.0 applications are opening the door to exciting and innovative services. We're ideally placed and absolutely committed to helping our customers to plan and execute their broadband strategies with confidence."

* Currently the maximum speed a line can support subject to the distance from the exchange and other external factors such as interference on the line.

GET MORE >

See and hear Sian Baldwin talking about broadband's new 'mixed economy' market by watching a replay of our ENGAGE Live webcast of 30 April 2009. It's one of three lively studio debate programmes on the sales and revenue-boosting opportunities of 21CN. See them all here.

Like to know what's on offer right now from our growing 21CN product and service portfolio? Your BT Wholesale account management team will be pleased to tell you more.