Next Generation Internet

BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLC
1 October 1999

                              
            BT STEPS FORWARD IN PREPARATIONS FOR
                  NEXT-GENERATION INTERNET
                              
BT today announced an important step forward in unlocking the

long-term potential of the Internet as a communication medium

for its customers.

     The company is in the first wave of European

organisations to be awarded an initial tranche of commercial

address block allocations for IPv6, the next generation

internetworking protocol which will push the commercial

potential of the Internet beyond its present capabilities.

     The allocation 'future-proofs' BT against IP addressing

limitations in the foreseeable future, and makes it possible

for BT to respond rapidly to any new business potential

arising from the expected formal launch of IPv6 early in the

next decade.

     Stewart Davies, BT's director of advanced communications

engineering, said: 'IPv6 has huge potential to expand the

scope and reach of Internet applications. It will open up

exciting opportunities for new types of service in the next

decade, including innovative network applications which

exploit the greater scope for communication among machines

and their users.

     'While new services for consumers are likely to be some

years away, BT intends to maintain its position as a major

contributor to IPv6 research and development.'

     The planned commercial exploitation of the Internet has

evolved very rapidly, taking the scope and scale of Internet

applications far beyond those envisaged when the first-

generation protocol, IPv4, was implemented. While many of the

original constraints of IPv4 have been overcome in various

ways, IPv6 will make the Internet a better environment for e-

commerce.

     The company is also advanced in its work on mechanisms

which will be available for a seamless transition of IP

environments from IPv4 to IPv6, and the interoperability of

the two protocols, as and when such transition becomes

desirable.