Expansion of Europe's Largest Fibre Optic Network

British Telecommunications PLC
11 May 2000


      BT ANNOUNCES MAJOR EXPANSION OF EUROPE'S
      LARGEST FIBRE OPTIC NETWORK


BT today announced that it is to extend substantially its

pan-European communications network to an additional five

countries. Its transborder network will cover 12 countries

and comprise 65,000km of optic fibre, making it

significantly larger than any of its competitors. The

network will provide the backbone for BT's newly-created

broadband Internet Protocol (IP) business, Ignite, announced 

last month as part of the radical restructuring of BT.

     The 20,000km expansion, involving a £32 million

investment, will extend the European fibre optic network run

by BT and its European partners to cover Ireland, Spain,

Sweden, Norway and Denmark, starting from the summer.
        

     Europe's biggest transborder network, Farland, was

launched in March last year with a 45,000km network,

consisting of 9,000km of fibre laid by BT and its partners,

connecting the 36,000km of fibre in BT's joint ventures

networks.

     Currently, it covers the UK, France, Germany, Italy,

Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium. A third phase will

extend the network to eastern Europe.


     Linking in-country networks and using leading edge

technology will enable customers through BT, its European

partners and Concert, BT's global venture with AT&T, to

transmit high volumes of Internet, e-commerce data and voice 

traffic to more than 300 European cities from its current reach 

of 220.


     Each fibre link initially has the potential to handle

transmission rates of 160Gbps, the equivalent of about two

million simultaneous telephone calls per second. They are

ready to support 1.6Tbps using 160 channel dense wave

division multiplexing(DWDM) technologies.
     

     Ignite, in turn, will have the broadest network

coverage in Europe and deliver a full range of services to

customers in the UK and throughout continental Europe,

supporting IP and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).

     Its current web hosting facilities and backbone of

50,000km of fibre, including BT's current 5,000km UK IP

network, is being expanded as part of a £4 billion

investment programme to cover more than 70,000km by 2001.

     This will help extend Ignite's current reach from the

100 most important commercial centres to 250 by the end of

next year.

     Alfred Mockett, chief executive-designate of Ignite,

said: 'Ignite has been created by BT as a data-centric

broadband IP business, offering exceptional services to the

corporate and wholesale markets.

     'It is unique in its breadth of services, reach and

depth of network and the capabilities it can give customers.

BT's European network is one of Ignite's key assets and is

the largest and most sophisticated network in Europe.'
   
 
     Chris Clark, chief executive of Farland, said: ' The

extension of BT's and its European partners' transborder

network marks a milestone in the development of Europe's

largest and fastest broadband network. It will extend

Farland's leadership position in terms of capacity and

reach.

     'The extension of the network is an exceptional

example of co-operation and will allow Farland, BT and 

its partners to address the growing needs of customers 

requiring access to unlimited bandwidth.'

      Farland's web site is at www.farland-net.com