Juniper and NEC (News - Alert) to Merge Internet with Cellular

By Johanne Torres

Juniper Networks has entered into an agreement with NEC (News - Alert) in order to develop IMS-based Fixed/Mobile Convergence (News - Alert) (FMC) systems for wired and wireless service providers. The move will enable the Internet and the cellular worlds to merge.

The companies decided to join forces to offer converged services over a single IP network by combining NEC's products for fixed and mobile networks with Juniper's carrier-class IP core and edge routers and security products.

"By working to combine NEC's advanced products and solutions for fixed and mobile networks with Juniper Networks  (News - Alert) carrier-class IP routers, Broadband Remote Access Server, and security products, we expect to come one step closer to merging the Internet with the cellular world," said Botaro Hirosaki, Ph.D., executive vice president of NEC.

span style="float:left;">Juniper and NEC will collaborate in the enhancement of their standards-based interfaces so that they can then conform to architectural standards which are defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and Telecoms & Internet converged Services & Protocols for Advanced Networks (TISPAN) standardization bodies.

"This initiative reinforces our commitment to partnering with industry leaders, such as NEC, to deliver open, agile and customizable solutions to enhance the value of next-generation networks," said Kim Perdikou, executive vice president, Infrastructure Products Group and general manager, Service Provider Business Team, Juniper Networks. "Together, Juniper Networks and NEC are working to make it easier and more cost-effective for service providers to offer services such as VoIP, gaming, videoconferencing, messaging and other content sharing applications over a common IP network infrastructure."

www.nec.com and www.juniper.net

Ericsson to Supply Converged IMS Solution to CYTA in Cypru

Ericsson has been selected by CYTA, the leading operator in Cyprus, to provide its IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) (News - Alert) solution for the implementation of one of the first truly converged IMS networks in the world. In line with CYTA's Fixed/Mobile Convergence (FMC) services roadmap, the Ericsson (News - Alert) IMS solution will enable CYTA to offer its residential and business customers truly converged services.

"By introducing IMS into CYTA's network, we will be able to offer innovative, truly converged services to our customers, regardless of the access they use," said Nicos Timotheou, CEO of CYTA. "At the same time, we will bring down time-to-market for introducing such new, enriched services."

The Ericsson IMS system is an end-to-end solution, which gives operators immediate revenue opportunities when evolving to all-IP operations. It enables seamless access to a wide range of new multimedia services across both fixed, and mobile networks. Ericsson's IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) includes a converged IMS core infrastructure, as well as application servers and service enablers for common functions that can be reused for multiple fixed and mobile applications.

The contract with CYTA is a turnkey project, which will be delivered in five stages over the next two and a half years. As part of the contract, Ericsson will also provide a full suite of professional services, in the areas of Business Consulting, Education Knowledge Transfer, Network Design, Implementation, as well as Multi-Vendor Verification.

www.ericsson.com

Cedar Point Communications Creates Europe Subsidiary

Cedar Point Communications, the leader in integrated VoIP switching technologies for the cable and telecommunications industries, announced the formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary dedicated to the European market, and the hiring of telecommunications and networking veteran Michael Brunsveld as Managing Director, Europe.

Cedar Point Europe Communications GmBH, headquartered in Meersburg, Germany, will oversee all activities involving Cedar Point, its European partners, and its customers in conjunction with sales and deployments of the company's SAFARI C3 Multimedia Switching System. Brunsveld, who joins Cedar Point after more than a decade with Nortel Networks (News - Alert) Germany, will be immediately responsible for all of Cedar Point's business development activity in the European market.

"In our early activity in Europe, cable system operators have shown tremendous interest in the simplicity, cost-effectiveness and scalability of SAFARI C3," said Andy Paff, president and CEO of Cedar Point Communications.

Cedar Point's SAFARI C3 Multimedia Switching System, the only totally integrated carrier class VoIP switch that incorporates all of the components that make up the voice switching infrastructure, provides SIP-based features and seamless evolution to an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) (News - Alert) architecture. SAFARI C3 provides superior performance and reliability, significantly reducing capital expenditures, system integration and operations costs for network operators offering telephony services while increasing network integrity, security and privacy.

SAFARI C3 is PacketCable qualified and future architected to fit within an IMS core network infrastructure, allowing network operators to leverage their initial equipment investment in voice as they introduce such services as video telephony and fixed/mobile applications. New applications can be integrated into SAFARI C3 or can be accessed via third-party application servers.

www.cedarpointcom.com

Sonus Solutions Receive Acceptance RUS/RDUP

Sonus Networks  (News - Alert) announced that the Technical Standards Committee (Telecommunications) of the Rural Utilities Service/Rural Development Utilities Program (RUS/RDUP), a division of the United States Department of Agriculture, has granted "RUS/RDUP Acceptance" status to key elements of Sonus' IMS-ready architecture, including the GSX9000 Open Services Switch, PSX Call Routing Server, SGX Signaling Gateway (News - Alert) , and the Sonus Insight Element Management System. The RUS/RDUP acceptance helps Sonus reach a broader market of network operators by enabling third-party resellers to sell Sonus' solutions to RUS-funded service providers.

"RUS/RDUP acceptance for Sonus' solutions provides rural carriers with the flexibility to invest funds in a field proven IMS-ready core infrastructure," said Steve Edwards, Chief Marketing Officer, Sonus Networks. "In addition, the RUS/RDUP acceptance is a critical step for our Company, as it helps to expand our strategic reseller relationships to focus on addressing the rural telecommunications market in the United States."

RUS/RDUP provides funding to Rural Telephone Companies for telecommunications initiatives in rural communities throughout the United States. These initiatives include financing construction, procurement of equipment, and enhancements to networks.

www.sonusnet.com

Huawei  (News - Alert) Adds Sylantro to Recipe for IMS

By Erik K Linask

New CEO Marco Limena and Sylantro can finally share some of their excitement, as network solutions provider Huawei Technologies has officially announced it will incorporate Sylantro's application feature server into complete IMS solution, IMS Core 3.0.

"We have selected Sylantro as the most important application feature server in the market based on a comprehensive evaluation of their Synergy platform's features and scalability, as well as the company's ability to support our business," said Mr. Zha Jun, director of Huawei's IMS product line.

IMS is an evolution. It is about the build-up of service provider architectures and core network capabilities, which requires significant investment from the service provider. Sylantro's Limena says this partnership is all about decreasing time to market and increasing ROI for customers - which will inherently help increase the adoption of IMS technologies, which is what this is all about.

Huawei will incorporate both of the Sylantro platform's two main features - the Synergy feature application server and the Synapps Web Services Interface.

Huawei has historically been cautious in entering technology partnerships, but Limena credits Sylantro's ongoing relationships with China Unicom (News - Alert) and China Netcom as being influential in securing interest from Huawei. Sylantro is also now opening its own facility in China, underscoring its commitment to the region. In fact, Sylantro and Huawei are said to already be working on deployments with several customers in both Europe and Asia.
"We are proud to have been selected by Huawei," said Limena. "Huawei is a leading technology provider in the region, and they will take us to market."

Having announced the arrangement, Huawei is not wasting anytime in showing off its new partner. Tomorrow, the firm has a scheduled meeting with 80 of its top customers and partners, at which Limena has been invited to speak to the customers about the Sylantro technology.

Sylantro technology will also be featured in the Swiss market, where Microsoft (News - Alert) and Swisscom have just announced a joint initiative to deliver converged communications services for the SMB market, which will include Microsoft's EVS (Enhanced VoIP Services) Solution and Sylantro's application server - which is the only one that has been integrated with Microsoft's solution.

www.huawei.com and www.sylantro.com

TTI Telecom Service Assurance Solutions Support IMS Networks

TTI (Team Telecom International), a global supplier of OSS to communications service providers, announced that its Netrac Next Generation Service Assurance Solution now has the capability to support IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) (News - Alert) networks. The OSS product suite is tailored to function over the new network structure, as well as within its associated business model. This solution leverages TTI Telecom's current offering in supporting network transformation to IMS.

TTI Telecom's solution is an important tool in enabling service providers to extract maximum value from the IMS rollout. The key benefit IMS networks will bring to providers is the ability to offer a truly high-value service, including a diverse array of content and services, and flexibility in network access. Until now, the IMS business model ran the risk of a major setback in its initial entrance to the market, as many plans outlining its rollout overlooked the deployment of mechanisms to guarantee service quality in its early stages. Furthermore, customer demands on service quality from IMS networks are expected to be particularly strict, given its goal of premium QoS, regardless of access technology or location. The availability of a proactive Service Assurance solution which supports IMS networks allows service providers to eliminate this risk and accelerate adoption in the market.

"It is becoming clear that a proactive solution will be most appropriate for IMS networks," commented Avner Amran, VP Marketing and Business Development at TTI Telecom. "If service providers aim for a higher value business model, customers are going to expect premium service quality. A successful IMS deployment requires OSS which can prevent service degradation and network downtime before the customer experience could be affected."

www.tti-telecom.com

Tekelec Deploys Enhancements for EAGLE 5 Integrated Signaling System

Tekelec  (News - Alert), a developer of high-performance network applications for next-generation fixed, mobile and packet networks, announced it has deployed upgrades for the EAGLE 5 Integrated Signaling System (ISS). The new enhancements give operators greater flexibility when migrating their signaling networks to a more cost-effective IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) infrastructure and enable greater network capacity to handle increased signaling traffic as mobile operators continue the transition to 3G.

Sigtran, which enables signaling system 7 (SS7) signaling over IP networks, is considered the stepping stone to IMS. It enables operators to move their SS7 traffic over to IP first, and then use the same infrastructure to support session initiation protocol (SIP) signaling in an IMS environment. The upgraded EAGLE 5 ISS now can support all three major types of Sigtran - M2PA, M3UA, and SUA - to enable operators' graceful transition to IP and, eventually, IMS.

The enhancements also include support for up to 2,000 provisioned links, up from 1,500 links. Operators now can scale their EAGLE 5 ISS to handle the increasing signaling traffic caused by migration to 3G. Additional upgrades include expanded global title translation (GTT) performance and new integrated data acquisition features that allow operators to collect key Sigtran signaling statistics for revenue and performance management applications.

www.tekelec.com

Teligent Chooses Tektronix'  (News - Alert) Spectra2 for Testing Voicemail and IP-Based Switching

Tektronix has announced that Teligent, a global supplier of value-added services to telecommunications carriers, has chosen the Tektronix Spectra2 portable diagnostics platform and conformance test suites to provide on-site testing and analysis of its voicemail and IP-based switch services in 3G/IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert)) compatible next-generation networks.

The Tektronix Spectra2 hardware and conformance suites provide Teligent with highly integrated, portable solutions that allow the company to simulate load conditions, as well as monitor and test voicemail and SoftSwitch implementations. The Spectra2 solution directly addresses Teligent's need to test legacy PSTN and converged network signaling and network elements from a single, comprehensive multi-user platform.

Teligent is using the Spectra2 ISUP (ISDN User Part) capability to validate voicemail signaling and media performance. The Spectra2 generator application allows bulk call generation of ISUP Signaling with associated media, and also supports low- and high-speed SS7 signaling links (SS7 over ATM, HDLC and SIGTRAN). The Spectra2 SIP and Megaco (Media Gateway (News - Alert) Controller) test cases provide Teligent with the ability to analyze SoftSwitch performance. In both cases, all load generation, monitoring and testing functionality is provided by the portable Spectra2 hardware and software.

www.teligent.se and www.tektronix.com

Intervoice and BEA Systems Deliver Global IMS Solutions

BEA Systems, developer of enterprise and communications infrastructure software, and Intervoice (News - Alert), a provider of converged voice and information technology, announced the integration of Intervoice Media Exchange Enhanced Services Platform and the BEA WebLogic SIP Server, a converged Java-IMS-SOA service creation and delivery platform designed to promote adoption of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert))-based communication services around the world, including voice mail, voiceSMS, and video mail.

The joint BEA and Intervoice offering combined with its successful interoperability testing with Huawei (News - Alert) Technologies' IMS infrastructure, represents a major milestone in the two-year partnership between BEA and Intervoice. The joint offering is designed to help facilitate global delivery of IMS-based applications and lead the way for other next-generation solutions. Multi-level integration and interoperability of standards-based components is a critical enabler of IMS, early adoption of which was challenged by traditional "silo-ed" approaches to service delivery.

Intervoice and BEA share a commitment to delivering a world class user experience, increasing productivity, and driving up ARPU with Network customers as well as increasing productivity and reducing costs in the customer contact center environment. BEA and its BEA WebLogic Communications Platform product family feature prominently in Intervoice's Media Exchange offerings. BEA WebLogic SIP Server, the industry's first converged Java EE-SIP-IMS application server and a key component of the BEA WebLogic Communications Platform, is the integration point for the interoperability of the Intervoice Media Exchange and Home Zone platform.

www.bea.com
www.intervoice.com