8 April 2005
The UK's leading telecoms firm BT has received praise for its dynamic steps outlined to help the group account for the expected downfall of home phone services.
The advent of internet based phone services has severely threatened the long term future of the traditional fixed voice line industry and analysts expect BT's phone department to increasingly suffer in the coming months as more internet phone specialists establish.
One such firm, the UK-based Skype has already attracted 300,000 subscribers with plenty more expected to follow suit and leave traditional phone companies for ISPs.
But BT's radical network overhaul, known simply as 21C, according to the Scotsman represents ambitious but achievable plans to adapt and keep up to date with the latest technology breakthroughs in the phone industry.
This proposals have also been praised by various British telecom groups including UK ISP Freedom2Surf.
"We have a lot of respect for BT," commented Chris Paniyas, managing director of Freedom2Surf.
"Phone calls are a diminishing revenue stream for them. But they have been quicker than most networks of their size to provide the network along which these other services can run, including VoIP."
A BT spokesperson summarised the group's attitude: "We were either going to let this revolution happen to us, or we were going to take a lead."
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