MetaSwitch eNews - October 2006

We at MetaSwitch are excited to launch the inaugural edition of MetaSwitch eNews!

When we started planning this newsletter there were a variety of goals we had in mind - establish an effective communication vehicle, educate our readers on the latest news in next generation telecommunications, and continue to build solid relationships with our customers and friends throughout the industry. Our hope is that MetaSwitch eNews meets all these goals and that you find it to be a satisfying read!

There are many people to thank for their contribution to this first issue. Our good friend Gary Kim provided us with a remarkable article that takes a look at the benefits and drawbacks of IPTV, while Mary Shacklett kindly allowed us to publish a recent case study that she wrote, looking at how ComSpan successfully deployed triple-play FTTH services with MetaSwitch. Other articles in this first edition include an introduction to IMS, a look back (and forward) to the MetaSwitch Forum, a preview of what it takes to become a MetaSwitch interoperability partner and more.

I hope you find the first edition of MetaSwitch eNews valuable and interesting, meeting the goals we have set for this publication. I look forward to future editions of MetaSwitch eNews and always welcome your feedback. To send comments or questions, please email me at .

The Thing About IPTV...

By Gary Kim
Editor in Chief, IP News

The fact that the whole U.S. cable and telephone industry agrees on the importance of Triple and Quadruple Play strategies is probably a good thing. It suggests executives have learned the importance of economies of scope, not simply economies of scale, in the hyper-competitive environment bearing down upon the whole industry.

Scale, you will recall, is about selling large quantities of something or producing large quantities of a small number of things. It's a great strategy for mass markets.

Scope, by way of contrast, entails the selling of multiple products or services to a customer. Think bundling. That's scope.

Scope is the right strategy for a competitive market, just as scale might have served both the cable TV and telephone industries in the past. Consider the matter of stranded assets and potential market share, for example.

In the old protected markets, cost per home and revenue per home were nearly identical, since just about every single dwelling passed by the network actually bought services. In that sort of environment, "cost per passing," "cost per home" or "cost per drop" was a pretty meaningful metric. If nearly every household bought service, then the cost of the network really was just about identical to "cost per customer".

IMS 101

By Matt Byrd, Sales Engineer

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is an architecture that merges the applications and capabilities of the Internet with both wireless and wireline telephony, and promotes fixed/mobile convergence. When realized, IMS will pave the way for true multimedia applications, both voice and video, to be used through multiple forms of access, including third generation (3G) wireless devices such as mobile phones and PDAs, as well as through traditional Internet access methods including corporate LANs and broadband connections.

IMS is also, perhaps more importantly, a blueprint for how carriers and service providers can architect their networks to deliver these multimedia applications, defined in such a way as to make it much easier and faster for vendors to produce the underlying, interoperable infrastructure that enable service delivery. The interfaces and protocols required to deliver these IP multimedia applications and services are standardized, making it much easier for providers of these new services to develop and integrate new services that will be delivered over IMS infrastructures. It also provides a much cleaner mechanism for leveraging the vast wealth of services developed for the Internet using technologies such as HTTP, Java, etc., allowing these services to be utilized over mobile communications in addition to "non-mobile" connections. Last, but by no means least, IMS even allows services to be transferred seamlessly between different access networks when users switch between them (e.g. when a user moves from a fixed network connection such as a home broadband connection to a mobile network connection such as a mobile phone).

Triple-Play Case Study

By Mary Shacklett, President of Transworld Data
VoIP Magazine

Demographic studies over the next 20 years show a steady migration of baby boomers to either urban areas with abundant shopping, entertainment and convenience options or rural areas that offer the space, quiet and affordability that suburban and urban areas no longer can. These retiring baby boomers will put pressure on rural areas, which lack the infrastructure and the economic base to respond to an influx of new residents - and that's precisely what this case study intends to address.

An influx of retiring baby boomers can be some of the toughest kind of growth that a rural community can experience. This is because many rural communities do not offer abundant spending opportunities for the boomers' disposable incomes, and the retirees that come into the community are also not working or in a position to become a strong tax base.

At the same time, the younger, working population in these communities doesn't change much. There are only so many jobs. Many of the jobs are at lower wage and education levels. The end result is an intriguing community dichotomy that has young and middle aged working population staying the same or even declining, while non-working retirees come in to grow the overall population base.

The big questions for telcos considering offering new services like VoIP to these rural areas are, how do you create loyal customers and a strong profit base in rural communities where the elderly and retired population is growing, and the young and middle aged wage earners are diminishing? And is it possible to profitably deliver a package of advanced services that will appeal to this demographic?

With its headquarters in Roseburg, Oregon, ComSpan was an emerging CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) that wanted to grow its service area in the rural communities of southern Oregon outside of their headquarters. One of these communities was Bandon, a seaside town just on the other side of the California border, with many residents who had already returned and relocated from populous areas with advanced telecommunications offerings.

Customer Forums
A Look Back and Forward

By Elaine Perez, Marketing Manager

Earlier this year, MetaSwitch underscored its tremendous growth with the third annual MetaSwitch Forum, held in Dallas, Texas, March 6-9, 2006 and the first MetaSwitch Forum Canada held in Toronto, Ontario on April 5-6. More than 200 telecommunications industry leaders from the United States, Canada and the Caribbean participated in the interactive executive conferences where they heard the latest news from MetaSwitch senior managers and shared their success stories deploying new services with MetaSwitch.

"It was exciting to just come and experience the momentum that is building behind MetaSwitch" said Jim Funk, new User Group President, Tri-County Telephone (Wyoming). "I am honored to be a part of the growing community of service providers who are successfully deploying innovative services with MetaSwitch's class-leading technology."

At the March conference, sessions included keynote guest speakers, technology training, a review of best practices for marketing new services leveraging the MetaSwitch platform, demonstrations of new features and management tools, and "birds of a feather" discussion groups. After-hours entertainment ranged from golf to billiards to horseback riding to a casino night at the world-famous Southfork Ranch, location of the hit TV series Dallas.

"We have built an incredibly strong base over the past year, with more than 300 carrier deployments now powered by MetaSwitch," said John Lazar, MetaSwitch CEO. "Our forums are a fantastic opportunity to be able to present and get positive feedback on our strong vision for the future – a vision that is tied to massive ongoing investment in our technology and organization to ensure we continue to scale in line with accelerating growth over the coming year."

Planning is already underway for the 2007 MetaSwitch Forum and MetaSwitch is expecting another successful event with an anticipated 300+ attendees! The forum will be held at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida, April 18- 20, 2007. Attendees can expect to hear from distinguished industry visionaries, discuss issues with MetaSwitch executives, preview upcoming product releases, see strategic partner presentations, interact with fellow MetaSwitch customers and much more.

For more information about the 2007 MetaSwitch Forum, please contact Elaine Perez at .

e911 for VoIP

MetaSwitch has partnered with Dash911 to simplify the implementation of 9-1-1 emergency calling by VoIP providers. The new business and technology solution combines MetaSwitch's softswitch with Dash911's hosted service platform, to enable VoIP service providers to route 911 calls to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) based on the subscriber's current location. A full range of VoIP calling features, including custom call treatments and web-based configuration, are available to subscribers from the MetaSwitch platform. When subscribers move their VoIP device from one location to another, the Dash911 web portal — integrated with MetaSwitch's own Web Self-Care solution — offers a "ready to go" Web-based mechanism for them to easily update their location information. Call routing is achieved either via traditional MF or SS7 trunks (for subscribers within the provider's local calling area), or via the Dash911 switched 9-1-1 service using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), for out-of-area subscribers.

While this functionality was previously technically possible, it typically required service providers to develop their own Web interface and back-end integration. This new solution enables MetaSwitch users to meet FCC and CRTC requirements for 9-1-1 call routing, along with an elegant Web interface for subscribers, by executing a single service agreement with Dash911.

"Support for emergency calling is now a requirement for all VoIP providers offering services in North America based on rulings by the regulators in both the United States and Canada," said Jon Arnold, VoIP blogger and Principal of the telecommunications analyst firm J Arnold and Associates. "This announcement is a significant milestone in the VoIP industry's adoption of ubiquitous 9-1-1 service."

Partner Program Overview

By Doug Kreitz, Solutions Director

Look in this space in every issue for discussion of interesting activities surrounding MetaSwitch and our partners. As a good place to start, this month's column is an overview of the partner program here at MetaSwitch.

MetaSwitch realized early on – before we shipped our first switch – that we could not stand alone and serve our customers well. As a result of that early realization, our partner program is more than five years old. During that time, we have tested well over 220 devices or services from 97 vendors. There are 133 devices or services that have completed testing successfully and 12 new devices or services in test at this printing. No vendors appear on our website without completing our testing, which means our customers have a wide choice of equipment that will work with a MetaSwitch.

There are two levels of partners listed in our online database. The first is a Certified Partner. This means that the partner has completed a MetaSwitch test plan and has submitted the results to us. We require documentation of firmware levels and configuration before we officially Partner Certify a vendor's product. All of this information is available to our customers for review before considering the purchase of equipment or services.

The second level of partner is a MetaSwitch Accredited Partner. These partners have supplied equipment to our labs and our own interoperability test team has tested them thoroughly. In addition to the test plan utilized for Partner Certification, the appropriate stress tests for that particular device or service are completed. The majority of our MetaSwitch Accredited partners also have a MetaSwitch in their labs for their own internal testing and problem resolution efforts. Our customers can rest assured that a MetaSwitch Accredited partner is well tested and will deploy easily with their MetaSwitch.

The above gives you a brief insight into the comprehensive nature of our partner program which we view as critical to your successful deployments. We will continue to refine and strengthen the program, striving to further reduce the likelihood of service impacting interoperability issues in the field. Please look forward to additional information on the program and featured partners in this space in issues to come.

New Podcast Series

Zen and the Art of Network Transformation

This entertaining and informative series of podcasts brings together industry analysts, technology experts, and service providers to discuss how carriers are transforming their networks and their businesses to benefit from the opportunities offered by multi-service, packet based technologies.

Part of the PodTech network of leading technology podcasts, and sponsored by MetaSwitch, Zen and the Art of Network Transformation is "must-download" listening for your iPod or PC.

1. Network Transformation: Market Drivers

2. IMS Interoperability – Getting Ahead of the Deployment Curve

Creating a buzz

By Cory Boller
Editor, MetaSwitch eNews

With an aggressive trade show schedule, MetaSwitch has created quite a buzz! Show highlights from this summer and early fall include:

GLOBALCOMM 2006
Chicago, IL

With over 200,000 square feet of exhibit space dedicated to more than 500 companies at this year's GLOBALCOMM, it was not easy to stand out in the crowd. But with a little creativity and imagination by MetaSwitch's marketing team, this year's booth was a big hit due to its original artwork inspired by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. The comic book style graphics told the simple but compelling story that, with MetaSwitch, service providers can achieve a smooth migration to a next generation network without trouble and tears.

"I was attracted to the booth from the other side of the show floor" said one show-goer. Another approached the booth with an enormous grin exclaiming "Lichtenstein!"

Booth traffic at this year's event reflected the same kind of excitement for MetaSwitch's softswitch technology. During show hours, the booth was never empty as customers, information gatherers, and passers-by stopped in to learn about the diverse set of solutions MetaSwitch has to offer.

In addition to creating a buzz at the booth Andy Randall, VP of Marketing and Martin Taylor, VP of Technology Strategy were speakers on two well-attended panels about Turning IP Innovation Into Profits and Deploying New Services on IMS Applications Services. In these sessions, the executives discussed the challenges and opportunities facing telcos as they manage the transition to next-generation voice services.

Afterwards the community of MetaSwitch customers and friends met at the House of Blues, a unique venue in the heart of downtown that naturally inspires those who walk through the door to have a good time. For the second year in a row the invitation-only event was a big success and nearly 250 guests enjoyed the food, drinks and dancing.

"We were very satisfied with our experience at GLOBALCOMM this year" said Andy Randall, VP of Marketing at MetaSwitch. "We are happy to have had another successful event in Chicago. Plus with next year's consolidation of TelecomNext and GLOBALCOMM to a single show, we should have another great event in 2007. "

Fall VON 2006
Boston, MA

With 350+ exhibitors and 8000+ attendees at Fall VON, MetaSwitch decided to go with the Roy Lichtenstein-inspired booth graphics once again. It paid off! The booth was a big hit among show attendees and fellow exhibitors, and the MetaSwitch booth was one of the busiest at the show.

The joint demonstration with a live MetaSwitch and IPTV middleware from Minerva proved to be of interest to those looking to deploy triple-play services with TV/telephony integration as well the demonstrations of hosted PBX services including unified messaging and the MetaSwitch PC client, Desktop Assistant.

Martin Taylor, VP of Technology Strategy contributed to a well-attended panel about Lessons Learned from IMS. In this session the panel spoke about experiences deploying IMS Solutions, the challenges of integrating IMS with legacy systems, service management and the customer experience.

MetaSwitch, Cisco and Atlantic ACM hosted a joint party at the Boston World Trade Center. Everyone enjoyed the company, the delicious appetizers and refreshing cocktails while taking in a panoramic view of the waterfront.

MetaSwitch looks forward to having a successful exhibit at Spring VON 2007 in San Jose!

And Finally...

We were pleased to receive two prestigious industry awards in recent months. Broadband Properties magazine recognized us in their "BBP Top 100" list for our vision and great execution in the field of fiber-to-the-home deployments, while Frost & Sullivan acknowledged MetaSwitch's success with their Best Practices Award 2006 for Product Differentiation. Presenting the award, Shirley Hunt, strategic industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said: "By focusing on building solutions to meet customer needs now and in the future, and demonstrating a track record of successful deployments, MetaSwitch has clearly proven that it has the experience and knowledge to succeed in the highly competitive next generation services infrastructure market."