Press releases

ntl mounts corporate market challenge with the launch of National Ethernet service to businesses across the UK

• Extending Ethernet portfolio to deliver superior network performance at lower cost to UK corporates
• Aiming to secure significant slice of corporate market through direct and wholesale propositions
• Leveraging the superior performance and local fibre reach of ntl’s next generation network infrastructure

08, March 2005 – ntl, a leading provider of business communications services, has extended its portfolio of industry-leading Ethernet solutions with the launch of a new National Ethernet product. ntl National Ethernet will bring LAN performance to the WAN, allowing customers to network multiple offices over large distances. It will enable businesses with disparate sites to function as if from a single office, and will provide the necessary platform to enable new business applications such as the convergence of data, voice and video traffic.

The launch marks ntl’s drive to capture a significant share of the UK corporate market, through both direct and wholesale sales strategies.

The National Ethernet solution leverages ntl’s £9bn national and local network infrastructure to deliver superior performance with guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS). The proprietary Broadnet network is second-only to BT in terms of local reach but, unlike competitors, was built from scratch on next-generation IP technology. This enables ntl to offer a comprehensive SLA backed by service credits and to publish industry-leading figures on packet loss, round trip delay and jitter. ntl has the ability to offer end to end solutions on its local access and core network.

ntl’s National Ethernet product derives significant competitor advantage from the fact that Broadnet has more Points of Presence (PoPs) than any other network in the UK, since the performance of Ethernet technology is directly proportionate to the proximity of an organisation’s premises to the local access point. With 200 PoPs across the country, ntl’s infrastructure delivers approximately 60 per cent more PoPs than BT.

Ethernet’s unique pairing of improved performance at much lower cost will enable organisations across the country to improve efficiency and lower network expenditure. Ethernet is already well established as the technology of choice for Local and Metropolitan Area Networking, and costs less to implement, support and maintain than legacy ATM, Frame Relay and leased lines.

Based on MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching), the ntl solution will provide a more flexible network infrastructure and will provide enhanced technical performance for both legacy and future applications. It is also VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Solutions) ready. VPLS is a new innovation in VPN (Virtual Private Network) technology that allows an enterprise to connect to any number of locations over the Ethernet

Other key features include:

•  choice of wirespeed connections at staggered intervals between 10 to 1000Mbps
• trunk capacity at 2-1000Mbps
• added 175.982 Gbits of Installed POP to Backbone Capacity
• offers 70.393 Gbits of usable capacity (Architectural rules)
• tariffs based on speed rather than distance, making it ideal for widely distributed organisations
• service backed by stringent SLAs, with generous service credits

Lucy Green, Director of Product Marketing for ntl’s Business division, said: “The inherent strengths of our core and local networks puts ntl in a very strong position to capture a significant share of the corporate market. In fact, this product represents the most serious challenge to BT for corporates looking for a nationwide networking solution, as well as an alternate supplier to BT for other UK operators. Ovum predicts that Ethernet’s unique pairing of better technical performance at much lower cost than legacy ATM/Frame Relay will produce a 100 per cent growth in spend by UK corporates on National Ethernet services by 2007: in reality the market is already exceeding these forecasts .”

Peter Ryde, Director of Wholesale Services for ntl’s Networks division, said: “Differentiation on performance and QoS is key in this market. As the largest alternative provider in the UK, ntl significantly outperforms its competition on latency, packet loss and jitter – vital components for the robust and reliable infrastructure required to support not only data but also voice and video traffic. We are offering carriers a unique opportunity to take advantage of this network and drive their own revenues by offering National Ethernet as a wholesale proposition.”

The launch of National Ethernet completes ntl’s highly successful Ethernet portfolio. ntl became an early adopter of Metro Ethernet services two years ago, and already provides innovative, reliable and high performance Metro and Ethernet VPN solutions to businesses and public sector organisations across the country. The complete portfolio now offers a full solution to companies nationwide, allowing organisations to select individual, tailor-made solutions to meet their business needs.

National Ethernet will be sold direct to customers, via ntl’s Business division, and will also be offered as a wholesale proposition by ntl Networks to drive revenues for carrier customers.

The launch of National Ethernet is supported by partnerships with key suppliers including Laurel, Cisco, and Telindus.