In the UK, another popular acronym was introduced by
BT (British Telecom) as
21CN (21st Century Networks, sometimes mistakenly quoted as C21N) this is another loose term for NGN and denotes BT's initiative to deploy and operate NGN switches and networks in the period 2006–2008 (the aim being by 2008 BT to have only all-IP switches in their network). The concept was abandoned, however, in favor of maintaining current-generation equipment. The first company in the UK to roll out a NGN was THUS plc which started deployment back in 1999. THUS' NGN contains 10,600 km of
fibre optic cable with more than 190 points of presence throughout the UK. The core optical network uses
dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) technology to provide scalability to many hundreds of gigabits per second of bandwidth, in line with growth demand. On top of this, the THUS backbone network uses MPLS technology to deliver the highest possible performance. IP/MPLS-based services carry voice, video and data traffic across a converged infrastructure, potentially allowing organisations to enjoy lower infrastructure costs, as well as added flexibility and functionality. Traffic can be prioritised with Classes of Service, coupled with
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that underpin quality of service performance guarantees. The THUS NGN accommodates seven Classes of Service, four of which are currently offered on MPLS
IP VPN. In the Netherlands,
KPN is developing an NGN in a network transformation program called all-IP. Next Generation Networks also extends into the messaging domain and in Ireland, Openmind Networks has designed, built and deployed Traffic Control to handle the demands and requirements of all IP networks. In Bulgaria,
BTC (Bulgarian Telecommunications Company) has implemented the NGN as underlying network of its telco services on a large-scale project in 2004. The inherent flexibility and scalability of the new core network approach resulted in an unprecedented rise of classical services deployment as POTS/ISDN, Centrex, ADSL, VPN, as well as implementation of higher bandwidths for the Metro and Long-distance Ethernet / VPN services, cross-national transits and WebTV/IPTV application. In February 2014, Deutsche Telekom revealed that its subsidiary Makedonski Telekom had become the first European incumbent to convert its PSTN infrastructure to an all IP network. It took just over two years for all 290,000 fixed lines to be migrated onto the new platform. The capital investment worth 14 million euros makes Macedonia the first country in Southeast Europe whose network will be fully based on Internet protocol. In Canada, startup
Wind Mobile owned by Globalive is deploying an all-IP wireless backbone for its mobile phone service. In mid 2005,
China Telecom announced its commercial roll-out of China Telecom's Next Generation Carrying Network, or CN2, using Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture. Its IPv6-capable backbone network leverages softswitches (the control layer) and protocols like DiffServ and MPLS, which boosts performance of the bearer layer. The MPLS-optimized architecture also enables Frame Relay and ATM traffic to be transported over a Layer 2 VPN, which supports both legacy traffic and new IP services over a single IP/MPLS network. In Japan, the
NTT Group has been providing consumer-oriented NGN services under the name "FLET'S Hikari Next" (1 Gbps) since 2008, and "FLET'S Hikari Cross" (10 Gbps) since 2020. Telephone services are provided as SIP-based calls under the name "Hikari Denwa," using the mandatory
G.711 μ-Law codec. Additionally, depending on negotiation between the calling and receiving parties, codecs such as
G.711.1,
G.722, and
Opus may also be used. The migration of the core telephone network to NGN was completed by December 2024. In September 2025, the group also announced a plan to fully eliminate copper lines by replacing subscriber lines with optical fiber or converting them to cellular connections. == See also ==