GENBAND Acquires Assets of Nortel Carrier VoIP and Application Solutions Business

By Deepika Mala, TMCnet Contributor

GENBAND (News - Alert), a premier developer of next-generation networking solutions and services, has acquired substantially all assets of the Nortel Carrier VoIP and Application Solutions Business.

With this acquisition, GENBAND's media, session and security gateways are combined with Nortel's (News - Alert) softswitches, media gateways and application platforms. This creates a global market leader in next generation IP infrastructure with best-in-class, end-to-end switching and global services portfolios.

At more than two-thirds of the world's marquee service providers, the combined company's products are deployed. They also encompass broad markets including fixed, mobile, cable and broadband operators.

GENBAND, with the addition of Nortel CVAS, will have vast resources in R&D, sales and support spanning 46 countries and delivering innovative carrier solutions that lay the groundwork for an all-IP future.

With strategic product and support facilities in Ottawa, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Maidenhead, Shanghai and Beijing, as well as strategic partners in India and Turkey, GENBAND will continue to remain headquartered in the Dallas area.

The various key milestones that have been reached by GENBAND are as follows:

Nearly 100 percent of all employment offers extended to Nortel CVAS employees have been accepted

GENBAND has ensured that the customer and supply contracts related to the Nortel CVAS business will successfully transition to GENBAND

GENBAND's executive management team, reporting structure and product roadmaps have been finalized and will be announced in the coming days

"We are pleased to further our vision of fueling next generation network migration and IMS deployment through our successful acquisition of Nortel CVAS technology and talent," Charles D. Vogt, president and chief executive officer of GENBAND, said. "By creating one of the most comprehensive, standards-based, interoperable switching portfolios in the world, we will facilitate the industry's massive and ongoing efforts to modernize networks, maximize existing investments and converge fixed and mobile infrastructures across disparate networks."

"We are a customer today of both GENBAND and Nortel CVAS, and we expect the consolidation of the two companies' work will provide Verizon (News - Alert) with valuable options to continue the IP modernization of our TDM network," Mark Wegleitner, Sr. Vice President, Technology for Verizon, said. "In addition, ongoing innovation by GENBAND in NGN technology should assure continued progress in IP migration and IMS development that is so important to our business."

"We believe that this mixture of softswitch and media gateway assets will accelerate innovation and speed to market for new technologies and network solutions," Tim Harden, President, Supply Chain and Fleet Operations, AT&T (News - Alert), said. "Our goal is to ensure that each investment in network infrastructure accelerates our move towards a network that enables the full promise of the Internet and other game-changing technologies."

"We look forward to continuing our relationship with GENBAND and are pleased that their strategy provides a clear path forward for their newly combined product and service portfolio,"  Stuart Sutton, Platform Director of Cable&Wireless Worldwide," said.

"As a rapidly growing nationwide communications provider, PAETEC (News - Alert) has a significant base of both Nortel DMS-500 Class-5 switches and GENBAND next-generation gateways and call controllers in our network," Sanjay Hiranandani, Senior Vice President of Engineering at PAETEC, said. "The planned combination of these two industry leaders will give us the ability to leverage our close partnership with GENBAND to efficiently transition our voice service platform into the next generation. We believe that this acquisition is a strong move in the telecom equipment industry and will enable PAETEC to continue to grow and deliver our industry leading voice services to our nationwide customer base."

"Every step of our integration planning has been focused on ensuring a smooth transition for our customers, partners and employees," Mr. Vogt, said. "Our management team, along with their strategic roles and responsibilities, have been finalized and seamlessly integrated to deliver full customer and employee satisfaction on day one."

In related news, GENBANDInc., has completed comprehensive interoperability tests in the world's first femtocell plugfest.

(source: http://voip-phone-systems.tmcnet.com/topics/voip-phone-systems/articles/86862-genband-acquires-assets-nortel-carrier-voip-application-solutions.htm)