BT 21CN chief heads for pastures new

The chief executive behind BT's £10bn national network, 21CN, has resigned just six months into the job.

The telco announced that Andy Green will leave to become chief executive of services specialist LogicaCMG on 1 January, 2008.

When Green accepted his role as chief executive of group strategy and operations following a company restructuring in April, he took on responsibility for building 21CN (21st Century Network), BT's next-generation network, which is scheduled for completion in 2011. He also had a wider remit covering design and operation of BT's infrastructure.

Green's is the second major departure from the 21CN programme in just four months. Paul Reynolds, chief executive of BT's wholesale arm and the creator of 21CN, resigned in late June.

BT moved quickly to counter suggestions that the departure of Reynolds and Green was the beginning of a trend. A BT spokesperson said: "Andy's departure is in no way related to 21CN. Andy felt he had completed the tasks put in front of him and the opportunity [at LogicaCMG] was too good to turn down."

The upgrade to BT 21CN was previously scheduled for completion by 2010 but the telco has quietly moved its deadline back to 2011.

21CN will now be implemented over three years from 2008, according to BT's website. Some parts of northern England, Scotland, Wales and southwest England will not be migrated to the all-IP network by 2010.

Describing his 21 years at BT as "fantastic", Green said he would continue to work with BT as a business partner at LogicaCMG.

Green was the chief executive of BT's business arm, BT Global Services, for six years until April. In the year 2000, he headed the telco's broadband rollout.

The 21CN programme will now be headed by Al-Noor Ramji, chief executive of BT Design, and Roel Louwhoff, chief executive of BT Operate, both of whom previously reported to Green.

Ramji and Louwhoff will now report directly to group chief executive Ben Verwaayen. Green will not be replaced.

Richard Thurston writes for ZDNet UK