BT Signs 3G Backhaul Contract with T-Mobile and 3 UK

T-Mobile UK and Hutchison 3G UK, through their joint venture company, Mobile Broadband Network Ltd (MBNL), have signed a five-year managed network solutions agreement with the UK's dominant landline operator, BT to provide links connecting 7,500 base station sites on their consolidated 3G infrastructure.

The network services contract supersedes the original contracts that BT had in place with both T-Mobile and 3 UK - and was signed last July. Those contracts were for a five-year term.

BT's next-generation Ethernet service is currently being rolled out to the widest national footprint in the UK market, and is the latest service to launch on BT's 21CN global platform. The migration of the common backhaul network to Ethernet technology will follow BT's roll-out programme. In the shorter term, BT will continue to upgrade the legacy leased line connections.

Emin Gurdenli, Technology Director at T-Mobile UK, said: "We are now moving ahead with the large scale consolidation of cell sites with the objective of achieving scale and integrating quickly and smoothly. This agreement with BT will make sure backhaul is not a constraint now or in the future at a time when T-Mobile is experiencing strong growth in mobile broadband and other mobile data services. It will help ensure we continue to deliver a superior mobile broadband experience to our customers."

Posted to the site on 7th October 2008