NWT and Lucent Technologies (News - Alert) Join Hands in Entering the New Era of FMC

New World Telecommunications (NWT) and Lucent Technologies, announced that Lucent will provide its leading IMS platform to NWT, enabling the telco to create and deliver simple, seamless, secure, portable, personal multimedia services for their subscribers over its optical IP network to different types of end user devices. Lucent's IMS platform allows NWT to easily implement new and innovative services over an internationally recognized standard. NWT is Hong Kong's first fixed-line operator to deploy an IMS platform.

York Mok, COO of NWT said, "The global telecommunications industry has entered the new era of transforming traditional network to pure IP network, which is the cornerstone in the emergency of fixed/mobile convergence services. We endeavour to create unparalleled value to our customers. Deploying Lucent's IMS platform helps us leap ahead in strengthening our flexibility to develop innovative multimedia messaging and collaboration services, over a single platform, seamlessly over different devices like telephones, PDAs, notebooks and mobile phones. This will allow NWT to leapfrog in the direction of FMC services and allow our customers to experience a more enjoyable, enriched communications in the future." HOT Telecom to Use Nortel (News - Alert) IMS-Ready Solution for Voice, Instant Messaging

HOT Telecom, a consortium of cable service providers Golden Channels, Matav and Tevel, has selected a next-generation carrier solution from Nortel for the next stage of its cable telephony network upgrade. Nortel will be the lead systems integrator for this upgrade, which will position HOT Telecom to deliver new revenue-generating services like managed VoIP, instant messaging, and presence awareness to business and residential customers across Israel.

HOT Telecom plans to deploy a Nortel IMS-ready, carrier-grade IP-based solution using network engineering, integration, operation and maintenance services from Nortel's Global Services portfolio. The network upgrade is expected to be fully deployed by the end of 2006.

"HOT selected Nortel because its technology will enable us to respond to our significant growth in telephony subscribers and will let us introduce new services to enhance our customer services portfolio," said David Borochovsky, director of communications, Engineering Division, HOT Telecom.

The HOT Telecom upgrade will include the Nortel Communication Server 2000-Compact, a carrier-grade softswitch that supports industry standard VoIP protocols and enhances revenue opportunities by making it simpler for carriers to reach new regions. The upgrade will also include the Nortel Media Gateway 15000 Trunk Gateway, which provides a highly scalable and high voice quality solution to integrate traditional and next generation networks, and the Nortel Border Control Policy 7200, which provides an advanced media proxy designed to support VoIP services.

HOT Telecom also has an advanced converged IP telephony network at its Yakum Headquarters that uses Nortel softswitch technology. The network provides approximately 1,400 HOT Telecom employees with anywhere, anytime access to communication services such as voice, e-mail and multimedia collaboration regardless of device - telephone, computer or PDA.

www.hottelecom.com www.nortel.com
www.newworldtel.com and www.lucent.com

By Pat Barnard

Banking on the notion that consumers will come to adopt IPTV in droves and that it will become the new "cash cow" for service providers, Ericsson has developed a new end-to-end IPTV solution. The solution will deliver a range of digital video services, including broadcast TV (both standard and high definition), video on-demand, network personal video recording, and electronic programming guides.

But Ericsson's new IPTV platform will ultimately do much more than just deliver digital video to consumers: It will link together all of the devices in the home - the computer, the TV, the phone, and even mobile devices, including PDAs and iPods - in such a way that they can all "talk" to each other and share data. This seamless interoperability between devices is what will usher in a new age in home entertainment.

Ericsson's solution also includes guidelines for integration with IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert) (IMS) functions, such as charging and end-user authentication. Ericsson's entire vision of IPTV, in fact, is based on open standards, including the combination of Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) technologies, for digital entertainment, with the IMS standard for delivering enriched communications services. Ericsson is committed to working with appropriate standardization bodies to achieve economies of scale and interoperability in IPTV reference architecture and interfaces.

"IPTV is much more than traditional TV broadcast over the IP network - it is about integrating media with communications services to deliver personalized, interactive television no matter where the viewer is," said Claes Ödman, vice president, multimedia solutions, Ericsson. "Based on our broadband experience, our standardization efforts and our global IMS leadership, Ericsson has a long-term vision for TV and a migration path to help operators meet the challenge."AudioCodes (News - Alert) to Acquire Netrake Corporation

By Johanne Torres

Voice over packet technology provider AudioCodes announced it will acquire Netrake Corporation, a provider of session border controllers (SBC) and security gateways.

"This agreement with Netrake provides AudioCodes with more products to help service providers and network equipment providers (NEPs) in enabling connectivity between disparate VoIP networks and deploying fixed/mobile convergence, as well as IMS networks in the future," said AudioCodes' chairman, president, and CEO Shabtai Adlersberg.

"We believe that Netrake has built a strong team that has delivered field-proven Session Border Controllers and Security Gateways that fit well with AudioCodes vision of enabling IMS networks," stated Bruce Hill, CEO of Netrake.

The companies plan to complete the acquisition in the third quarter of 2006. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and by the stockholders of Netrake.

www.audiocodes.com www.netrake.com www.ericsson.com

Telenity Adds Video to Converged Services

By David Sims

Telenity, a vendor of converged services platforms and applications for communications networks, has announced the addition of video services designed for subscribers of video-enabled devices to its Canvas Converged Value Added Services Solution.

The Telenity product includes "enhanced multimedia content, integrated messaging, and location-based services; and provides enhanced personalization capabilities across various networks and mobile devices," according to company officials.

Telenity has recently proven its Canvas product in a Tier 1 customer trial in Europe, where its new video-enabled services including video call services along with other Canvas service delivery products were tested in an IP network environment targeted for 3G and IMS.

Nitin Patel, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at Telenity, said that Telenity's Canvas product is "IMS compatible, supporting next generation SIP standard architecture," which is adding video "as it brings a new breadth to content, messaging, and location-based services, allowing for rich user experience, personalization, and, as a result, increased revenues to our customers."
www.telenity.com

LongBoard Intros Roaming

LongBoard, a provider of carrier-grade software that enables personalized IMS services, introduced MediaRoam, a new software product line that provides telecommunications carriers with the ability to deliver differentiated IMS-enabled multimedia services across fixed and mobile networks with service and revenue assurance.

Faced with plummeting voice revenues, carriers and service providers are focused on delivering revenue-generating IMS multimedia services, like Mobile TV, VOD, video sharing, and other streaming media. However, to boost adoption of new bandwidth-intensive multimedia services, carriers must ensure quality experiences for mobile users with these new applications. This includes ensuring that performance of multimedia sessions won't be comprised or dropped as mobile users move across networks.

MediaRoam delivers network-based policy and enforcement capabilities that ensure quality user experiences for multimedia services. MediaRoam enables carriers to ensure that mobile users are always connected to the most optimal fixed or mobile network available - the network that is best able to provide users with the services they want. This capability is known as Service Quality Assurance.

In addition, MediaRoam further enhances the mobile user experience by adapting streaming multimedia services in real time as users move across networks. For example, MediaRoam adapts a streaming video to a higher quality stream as mobile users move from a GSM network to a WiFi network. www.longboard.com

Number of IMS Projects at Major Operators Tripled in the Past Year

In the 12 months that inCode has been tracking worldwide adoption of IMS architecture, the number of publicly announced projects has more than tripled. Today's version of its IMS Global Deployment Matrix lists 36 operator trials or deployments in addition to three non-commercial projects initiated by industry trade groups. Three operators -AT&T (News - Alert), BT, and Sprint (News - Alert) Nextel - have announced more than one deployment. A year ago, only 11 service providers had announced trials or commercial deployments.

"Wireless, wireline, and broadband operators are ultimately headed toward IMS," said PK Prasanna, IMS/Convergence Lead for inCode. "The questions for many operators are how will they get there and when will it happen."

At least seven operators have adopted Fixed/Mobile Convergence solutions that provide packaged voice services as a potential precursor to blended IMS services. FMC solutions come in several variants, from soft clients that reside on laptops to offerings that utilize true dual mode handsets. This flexibility helps operators test and offer "pre-IMS" converged services without potentially costly alterations to existing network architecture and back-office systems.

"Several vendors are now offering products and platforms that provide operators with a more stepwise approach than a headlong leap into IMS," Prasanna continued. "This is a more cautious approach, since some IMS standards and customer preferences have not been completely firmed up."

IMS provides a common transport and control infrastructure for delivering voice, video and data within and across different wireless and wireline networks. Since it offers a unifying infrastructure, IMS is particularly appealing to consolidated carriers. The architecture enables the next generation of converged services. www.incodewireless.com

Fully Compliant IMS SIP Toolkit from RADVISION

RADVISION has released its latest toolkit, an IMS SIP Toolkit for real-time communication applications. Based on RADVISION's SIP toolkit, the IMS SIP Toolkit is a powerful and versatile set of tools that facilitates the development of IMS SIP applications while reducing development time and costs. The
IMS SIP toolkit is suitable for both clients
and servers.

"With the release of IMS-SIP toolkit, RADVISION is pioneering the deployment of next generation networks. This represents a major milestone in the migration toward IMS," said Adi Paz, Senior Director of Product Management and Marketing for RADVISION's Technology Business Unit. "The market has been waiting for the general availability of IMS products, and we are pleased to maintain our leadership role by being the first to market with our IMS Toolkit."
The IMS SIP toolkit is part of an entire family of products specifically designed for IMS networks. Additional products include the SIP Server, Java SIP, MEGACO, RTP Toolkits and the ProLab IMS Testing & Analysis suite.

Coded in ANSI C and cross-platform compatible, the IMS SIP Toolkit is available for all common operating systems. It features an open, object-oriented architecture, which makes it programmer-friendly and highly flexible. It provides multiple API layers and is inherently designed to offer both extensive functionality and complete flexibility. SIP extensions include support for IMS registration, MD5-AKA, RFC 3329 security agreement, IPsec with ESP transport mode and manual keying.

www.radvision.com Mindspeed Announces High-Density Comcerto VoIP Processor for IMS Networks

Mindspeed Technologies has announced its seventh-generation Comcerto VoIP processor, optimized for emerging IMS networking applications. The Comcerto 900 series processor is designed to enable service providers to solve the increasingly difficult challenge of transcoding wireless and wireline protocols in order to transport voice and video between legacy circuit-switched and next-generation packet-based networks.

The processor is optimized for the company's recently announced wireless software suite and proven wireless Codec portfolio, as well as its widely deployed wireline VoIP over cable software suite. Together, the Comcerto hardware and software combination delivers all necessary media stream processing and transport layer building blocks for transmitting highly secure, carrier-class-quality voice and video across both wireless and wireline networks.

When combined with the company's various software suites, the processor delivers what is claimed to be the industry's first complete IMS solution. Applications include class 4 and class 5 switches, mobile switching centers, radio network controllers, basestation controllers, access gateways, IP-DSLAMs and digital loop carriers (DLC). www.mindspeed.com

T-Mobile Selects Comverse and Huawei to Supply IMS

Comverse and Huawei were selected to supply IMS network infrastructure and applications for Magyar Telekom's T-Mobile and T-Com business lines in Hungary. In this project, Huawei and Comverse will provide IMS network infrastructure, converged services, and a range of IP multimedia applications, such as IM and Presence.

The companies said the IMS networks for T-Mobile and T-Com will be among the first of their kind deployed in Europe. The new IMS networks will enable Magyar Telekom to quickly deploy new services for both consumers and enterprise segments, including voice and video calls over IP, fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) services, presence-enabled applications, rich video, and multimedia messaging services, personalized content services, and converged billing solutions.

"IMS will enable us to deliver converged, rich content of telephony, high speed Internet, cable television, and mobile services over a single converged network, assuring that our subscribers receive maximum value from our quadruple-play offering," said Mr. Peter Janeck, Chief Technical Officer at Magyar Telekom.

www.comverse.com www.huawei.com

Antepo Unveils New Availability-Based Communication Platform

Antepo has announced the Beta release of Rivoli, the newest upgrade of its award-winning platform, the OPN System. This release enables real-time business collaboration by bringing together Presence awareness, Instant Messaging and VoIP - essentially creating a new "dial tone" - while meeting critical business requirements for integration, control, security, compliance, and scalability.

"What the enterprise lacks today is an effective way to synchronize its people, its information, and its services. As communications modes converge over IP networks, the traditional dial tone is giving way to a new, more intelligent one in the form of Presence," said Maxime Seguineau, Chairman and CEO of Antepo. "This presence-aware dial tone drives efficient business collaboration, allowing employees to make communication decisions based on their colleagues' availability, whether they are using Instant Messaging, VoIP, or sharing desktops."

OPN seamlessly integrates Presence awareness with corporate directories and popular desktop productivity tools such as Microsoft (News - Alert) Office, allowing users to quickly find colleagues and synchronize their availability for conversations and meetings. OPN System Rivoli also provides an integration path to tie Presence awareness and collaboration to IP telephony infrastructures through standards-based SIP (Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) signaling interfaces. As such, it paves the way for true convergence between desktop and voice communication. www.antepo.com
Spirent Acquires Scientific Software Engineering

Spirent Communications (News - Alert) has acquired Scientific Software Engineering, U.S.-based developer of the growing Landslide product, a software-based system for testing the performance and functionality of 2.5 and 3G wireless network infrastructure. Spirent is paying an initial consideration of $10.0 million, payable in cash on completion with up to a further $6.0 million payable depending on the satisfaction of certain technical milestones and the retention of key employees.

SSE, based in Dallas, Texas and employing 24 people, will be incorporated within Spirent's Performance Analysis division. Spirent has been re-selling the Landslide product since November 2003 and customers include leading global network equipment manufacturers and wireless operators.

The acquisition will allow Spirent to integrate the business and the technology to deliver enhanced applications for the wireless infrastructure, IMS, and fixed/mobile convergence test markets, which have been identified as key growth areas.

Said Spirent CEO Anders Gustafsson: "The acquisition is in line with our strategy to expand our communications business, drive profitable growth and deliver shareholder value. We believe that the Landslide product is a market-leading solution for wireless network infrastructure testing and will also enhance our IMS portfolio."

www.spirent.com

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