British Telecom Signs PSP VoIP Deal In UK

Officials from British Telecom (BT) have announced that the company has signed a four year deal with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) to add wireless broadband communication functions, including high quality handheld video calls, voice calls and messaging, to the PSP. BT will help develop the services as part of its 21CN (21st Century Network) project to replace the UK’s current public switched telephone network (PSTN) network with an Internet protocol base system. The project also includes support for new media features such as on demand interactive television. The partnership with SCEE will see the PSP integrated into BT’s existed broadband video and voice softphone services. Also planned for the future is the ability to enable calls and messages to PCs, fixed lines and mobiles. Additional connectivity with the PlayStation 3 or the imminent Go!Cam peripheral has not been mentioned at this time, nor has a time frame for the start of the new services been indicated. Although headquartered in the UK, BT also has a significant presence in over 100 other territories, particularly Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia. SCEE president David Reeves commented: “It is very exciting for us to be partnering with BT. The opportunity to combine our market leading expertise with BT’s knowledge in communications opens up many possibilities and we look forward to bringing many exciting communication functions to PSP fans.”