The first stage of a project to build one of the world's most advanced telephone networks has been completed. The 21st century network (21CN) is being built in the UK using Internet Protocol technology, BBC Radio reported.
The massive upgrade, the first of its kind would cost œ10bn and take until 2010 to complete.
It will open the way to new services as well as making existing services quicker and cheaper than before. There is a lot of work to do in transforming the network.
The upgrade does not require customers to have a new telephone or number and can be done without an engineer visiting the premises.
Voice, data, broadband and multimedia services would all be carried on the new network. It would allow for faster broadband speeds as well as opening the door for services not yet thought of.