NGNs can be radical and groundbreaking. BT's NGN (21CN) is designed to empower the customer with control, choice, and flexibility like never before-offering communications from anywhere to any device. These ambitious and exciting programs can enable a new generation of rich personal services, transforming people's personal and business lives.

BT's 21CN is an example of such an endeavor and is not simply a network transformation, but rather a radical overhaul of products, systems, processes, and a fundamental remaking of their business. BT has committed multibillion-pound investments to bring its vision to reality. BT is being assisted in its delivery by carefully selected partners, each of which brings distinct experience and capabilities to their 21CN program. This panel will discuss what 21CN is going to deliver to the different customer groups, what each partner expects to get out of the program, what the key leanings are, if any, and where they see the prime area of innovations going forward.

Steve Osborne VP Global Integration BT

Mr. Osborne is responsible for the design and delivery of innovation with strategic customers for BT Design, the design and delivery division of BT Group. This responsibility extends to the development and prototyping of technical and commercial capabilities, leading to the delivery of software-driven products over the BT 21CN. He also has responsibility for 21CN marketing across the BT Group. Mr. Osborne has a broad background within the industry, having previously held senior sales and technical positions.

John Cunliffe Chief Technology Officer, North West Europe Ericsson

Mr. Cunliffe's role incorporates a wide range of responsibilities, including working with customers, research, government, regulatory affairs, and U.K. R&D activities. He has a broad understanding of the telecom industry from both technology and business perspectives. Until January 2006, Mr. Cunliffe was at Marconi (and its predecessors), where he started his career in 1976 as a direct-entry electronics graduate to work on the design of fault-tolerant processing for the System X Central Office switch. Many hardware and software development roles followed over 14 years, including the lead role for a fiber-to-the-home project.

Phil Dance Managing Director, Technology Exploitation BT

Mr. Dance covers all aspects of BT’s IT infrastructure, including the OSS/BSS, adaptive infrastructure and its service creation framework. Until recently, he was executive director for the company’s massive 21st Century Network Systems (21CN) project. Mr. Dance is a founding father of the project, and steered its IT development from its inception to the current large-scale transformation work. No stranger to major changes and challenges, Mr. Dance was previously the chief information officer for BT’s wholesale business.

John Frieslaar Senior Consultant Huawei Technologies

Mr. Frieslaar has accumulated 26 years of telecommunications and ICT experience within the global voice and data communications market. Much of his career has focused on working in the equipment vendor community, where he worked for companies such as Lucent Technologies, Madge Networks, ZTE, and Huawei. During the past 10 years Mr. Frieslaar has focused on identifying and qualifying new technology market directions and the development of cost-effective yet innovative solutions for large-scale deployment.

Geoff Hall Chief Technology Officer, Europe, Middle East, and Africa Nortel

Mr. Hall formulates technology strategies and represents Nortel's future strategies with EMEA customers across all business segments. A particular focus is on pioneering fixed-mobile convergence strategies and network transformation architectures. He has been with Nortel since 1985, when he joined Bell Northern Research, the company's research arm at the time. Mr. Hall has held senior management positions in software development, digital switching systems development, ETSI-based switching development, and research and development. He holds a B.Sc. honors degree in electrical engineering from DeMontfort University in Leicester.

John-Paul Hemingway Chief Technologist Ciena EMEA

Dr. Hemingway is responsible for guiding future product development in Europe and ensuring that Ciena's solutions meet the specific requirements of customers across the EMEA region. He first joined Ciena in 2001 and spent five years working in the systems engineering department, focusing largely on designing next-generation network solutions for customers across Europe. Prior to joining Ciena, Dr. Hemingway worked for BICC/Corning Cables and Netscient in fiber research and network design software roles.

David Soldani Head of Customer Networks and Solutions, Research Technology and Platforms Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN)

From 1997 to 2007, Dr. Soldani was at Nokia Networks in various technical and research management positions. In his current role, Dr. Soldani is responsible for driving the alignment between the research technology and platforms portfolio and future customer needs. Prior to joining Nokia, he was a graduate officer at the Italian Military Navy in Livorno, Italy. He received a Master of Science degree in electronic engineering from University of Florence, Italy, and a Doctor of Science degree in technology from the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland.

Andy Stevenson CEO Fujitsu

Mr. Stevenson has corporate responsibility for the growth and development of Fujitsu's telecommunications products and services in Europe. While the chief operating officer at FTEL, he led the transformation of the business from an £80 million marginal business into a £250 million profitable enterprise. Mr. Stevenson's background is in design and technology. As engineering director in the late 1990s, he was responsible for the development of Fujitsu's broadband access portfolio, which now provides the main product revenue stream for Fujitsu's telecommunications business in Europe.

Phil Tilley Vice President, EMEA Marketing, Fixed Networks Division Alcatel-Lucent

Mr. Tilley's responsibilities include developing the market awareness of the IP product portfolio, working with service providers to ensure success with their business services portfolio, and building the required IP skills in Alcatel-Lucent to support a market leading IP portfolio. He subsequently held posts as product specialist, product manager, and new carrier sector marketing manager. Mr. Tilley has a Bachelor of Science degree in electronic engineering from the University College of North Wales.