By Alex Scroxton
2 July 2008
Voice and data integrator Freedom Communications has become one of two specialist resellers to join a newly defined BT channel partner category.
Under the terms of the agreement the Watford-based comms provider will now resell fixed line minutes, SIP trunking, video-conferencing and other BT network services to its customer base.
The agreement is understood to be worth £1.3m per annum between now and 2011.
Freedom had previously sold the bulk of its fixed line minutes through Thus and Cable and Wireless - currently both in acquisition talks as reported by MicroScope - but BT's next generation network project, 21CN, tempted Freedom back to the fold, according to managing director Pat Botting.
"It took a while for BT to realise there was some serious competition, but its now gone round 180 degrees and clearly has more strength in both network delivery and innovation," Botting said.
Botting believed that the rollout of 21CN was "easily the most dynamic move in the market for 20 years", though he added it was hardly surprising that the project had fallen somewhat behind schedule given the sheer scale of the task facing BT, which maintained it was still on target for a nationwide rollout within the next five years. Testing on several aspects of the new network is already underway, with 75,000 customers already switched over in parts of Wales.
Tim Hubbard, BT head of technology and design, unveiled further details of the planned migration to 21CN, revealing that customers would be given the opportunity to migrate at first, with compulsory switchover following sometime in 2010.
Hubbard said BT saw the migration primarily in terms of meeting the expectations of future entrants into the workplace.
"This isn't being built for the likes of us; it's for the next generation," he said.
