NGNs will make a major difference to telecoms in this country by making converged services faster, more efficient and more cost-effective than ever before. The project to develop the NGN is now well under way and the first phase has already gone live in Cardiff.
In order to make the implementation of the 21st century network an industry initiative rather than a BT project, BT has chosen to work in collaboration with other carrier partners, in order to carry out network trials. Gamma is one of only two partners to have been selected. Gamma’s engineers will team up with BT’s own engineers to validate the next generation protocols and interconnect policies. Gamma has been working on its own soft-switched based IP Telephony network for the last two years, which currently carries over 500 million minutes a month.
Richard Bligh, Group Marketing Director at Gamma Telecom commented, “We see huge opportunities in working so closely with BT on this project. The NGN will enable telcos to provide true differentiation and innovation in the services they can offer. The next phase of development in this project will bring even greater choice for resellers when it comes to choosing network partners and will also broaden the range of products and services they can offer to customers.”
In addition to Gamma’s part in the NGN project, Richard Bligh has also been involved in the industry group called ‘Switched On’, which aims to educate the channel and users about the changes to the network and the benefits that it will bring. A series of channel events have been held throughout September raising awareness in the channel.