BT 2016 Annual Report Download - page 88

92 BT Group plc
Annual Report 2016
92 BT Group plc
Annual Report 2016
Case study:
Evolving our
IP network
Over recent years, the needs of our
customers have evolved from PSTN services,
leased lines and early mobile data services
to superfast broadband, TV, mobile data
and Ethernet data services. Our network
now supports a wide range of over-the-top
applications and services, which require
increasing bandwidths. For example, over
the last four years Netix trac has grown
from nothing to 20% of the data we carry.
And broadband trac has grown at around
50% a year.
This year we completed a three-year core
broadband network evolution programme
toensure that our single IP network supports
these services, and provides improved
performance and reliability. During this time
we’ve:
• introduced new core routers that provide five times
the capacity of the ones they replaced, helping us
to meet future data growth;
• optimised our network to eciently route trac
by removing network ‘hops’ and increasing content
caching within our network, speeding up access to
the internet;
• introduced three new, highly-resilient internet
service nodes for our consumer broadband trac
which are located to minimise internet delay for
our customers;
• deployed over 850 Multi-Service Edge network
components that each support multiple services
such as broadband, Ethernet and internal
connectivity between dierent layers of the
network; and
• introduced a lower-cost Ethernet router suitable
for smaller exchanges.
50%
Broadband trac has grown at around 50% a year