Business broadband customers will benefit greatly from BT partnership

The ability for BT to offer business customers broadband services in the UK could be enhanced by an agreement with Nortel to extend its already long-running partnership with Nortel.

A new extension on a partnership that has lasted 15 years that could improve BT’s ability to provide enhanced services in the UK to its business broadband customers has been agreed by the telecommunications provider.

The entry into a global trading agreement for four years that will allow BT to use Nortel’s range of enterprise services and equipment was recently announced by the company.

This new deal, which incorporates elements of the convergence portfolio from Nortel, will be a continuation of a 15-year relationship that is believed by both groups to have been successful in allowing professionals to make use of current offerings and technologies relating to voice applications.

The extension of the partnership was “very good news” for existing customers because at a time when everyone is trying to ride out the recession it would be able to improve the services available to them, according to comments made regarding the new deal from Lewis Lyell, the managing director of convergence business sales at BT Global Services.

Joel Hackne, the president of enterprise business at Nortel also said that this agreement would build on the closeness between both companies that has allowed them to work with each other in the past and has led to a number of effective solutions for their clients.

He also added “Not only do we understand the technology that businesses need to succeed, we also share a vision of delivering communications solutions that simplify and enhance the customer experience.”

The celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 700-type telephone, which was also named the “curly cord” model, of which 33 000 were supplied in the first eight month to homes in the UK, was also announced recently by BT.