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are talking up their own IP based networks which they claim have been up and running for a number of years. But it seems that Opal Telecom, formed in Irlam in 1995, may have stolen a march on them all. The company’s NGN strategy is to take aggressive advantage of Ofcom’s Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) programme which, together with a £100 million investment in “high value added” capital equipment such as Soft switches and Multi-Service Access Nodes (MSAN’s), will give them the jump on their competitors.
We asked Paul Lawton, Chief Executive Officer of Opal Telecom, why the company was making their move now. He said “We already have over 10 years experience running an efficient network, profitably and are currently switching over 2 billion call minutes per month, using our own Intelligent Network and Interactive Voice Response platforms, for which we own the intellectual property. When Ofcom acted to make LLU an attractive proposition for carriers such as ourselves, we saw the opportunity to combine it with NGN technology and develop services that we believe customers are crying out for. Our investment into a new network will deliver additional flexibility and substantially reduced operational costs, which we will in turn, pass on to our channel partners and end-users”.
Wanting to know more about Opal’s new network and what makes it different from other NGN’s, we next spoke with Neil McArthur, cofounder of Opal Telecom and now Managing Director of Carphone Warehouse Networks. McArthur, a keynote speaker at the Convergence Summit North on May 1st in Manchester, explained. “It is a unified voice and data network which transforms all phone calls into Voice over Internet Protocol which is then combined with data traffic before being backhauled over bandwidth we lease from long distance carriers, to our Interconnect points. We are more efficient and have far greater control over network resilience and quality through voice prioritisation than our Carrier Pre Select (CPS) competitors, because we have gone for ‘full unbundling’ wherein we take over the local loop to provide a full range of converged voice and data services.”
He went on to add: “Most of the competition is using ‘partial unbundling’ to implement their LLU strategy, because it is cheaper for them. But this limits them to providing broadband services only. If they want to have a voice service, they are compelled to use VoIP terminals or CPS. The limitations are obvious – end-users will not want to buy additional VoIP-friendly telephones/headsets, nor will they want to go on receiving two bills – one for broadband, one for voice. Opal’s strategy enables us to accept calls in whatever format customers send them - standard analogue voice, data or VoIP - relieving the need to ensure compatibility. A single bill will cover both voice and broadband.”
As with most new technological developments, it is the go to market strategy that will determine its success or failure. Comms Business asked for details about Opal’s channel partner strategy and programmes. Phil Titchmarsh, Head of Indirect Sales, told us this: “We are very excited by the opportunity NGN gives us to greatly increase the percentage of business done through channel partners. Right now, channel partners are able to offer their customers the following products: Firstly a basic bundled Line Rental service and calls product which provides a single analogue voice service over an unbundled NGN line. Second, a bundled Line Rental service with calls and Broadband product. This is a single analogue voice and data service over an unbundled NGN line together with our broadband product which offers speeds up to 8 megabits per second with a range of contention ratios. Both options are available with operator services and Class 5 services, such as call divert, call waiting and voicemail. Currently in development and testing are a range of further products that will address ISDN solutions through NGN. Our channel partners now have the opportunity to increase revenues and margins on Broadband, analogue and ISDN Line Rental, a first step towards “access- based charging” which is becoming more and more important to the channel as revenue from call charges continues to erode. They will also benefit from a ‘one-stop sale’. To date, most companies have sold voice first and then up-sold broadband. Now they can offer the end-user a converged package of voice plus broadband from the onset, simplifying the sale, yet enhancing its value.”
Titchmarsh also said that partners will reduce customer churn because they will be in control of a direct connection into the end-user which in turn will allow them to offer a broader range of services at cheaper prices. It would also mean that service provider switching by customers will become less frequent. At this point he told us of a new programme for channel partners: “Opal 21 is an exclusive group set up for our most respected partners. It is a group that will benefit from the launch and rollout of Opal’s NGN products and services. By becoming a member of Opal 21 channel partners will get early access to the new products and services. We will be providing additional sales and marketing support to help drive an aggressive sales rampup, which will benefit all of us.” He finished by saying “Opal is offering the channel the opportunity to win market share now through the sale of IP-based products and services. That opportunity is still months if not years away with other carriers. Why wait?”
Comms Business thinks that Opal may just have an NGN gemstone here. Why not attend the Convergence Summit North at the Hilton Hotel, Deansgate, Manchester on May 1st and 2nd, and judge for yourself. | 
