MetaSwitch Reports 2001 Accomplishments and Provides a Preview of This Year's Roadmap and Objectives

MetaSwitch Reports 2001 Accomplishments and Provides a Preview of This Year's Roadmap and Objectives

 

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 2002--Next-Generation Class 5 Telecom Switch Manufacturer Sets Several Category "Firsts" and Achieves Market Traction During One of Worst Years for Equipment Vendors

MetaSwitch, developer and manufacturer of a carrier-class, next-generation Class 5 switch for telecommunications service providers, is riding a wave of positive momentum during an unprecedented down-cycle for the telecommunications sector.

 Last summer, when telecommunications equipment providers were seeing their worst sales results in over a decade and many cash-starved startups were struggling to survive, MetaSwitch was investing substantially in product development and recruitment of engineers, support personnel and sales executives. This followed on the general availability of the company's award-winning, next-generation Class 5 switch, the VP3000.

 "We hit the ground running in 2001 and sustained our momentum with the first demonstration of voice over DSL with simultaneous full-screen video service in Europe, and successful trials of our carrier-class product with SaskTel in Canada," said Andy Randall, director of product marketing at MetaSwitch.

 "We then became the first softswitch vendor to publicly show voice over DSL capability as part of the open voice over broadband (OpenVoB) demonstration at DSLcon here in the U.S. We capped off the year with `Product of the Year' honors for our VP3000 from Internet Telephony Magazine for the second consecutive year."

MetaSwitch was also the first to demonstrate a standards-based, flow-through provisioning capability from its VP3000 and EMS products to integrated access devices (IADs). In December, the company proved VP3000 interoperability with the UK's public switched telephone network for SS7 protocols, being the first vendor to complete such testing at BTexact's labs.

 Parent company Data Connection (DCL) announced record financial results for the twentieth straight year, including long-term funding for its MetaSwitch division. Total revenues for the fiscal year, which ended August 31, 2001, were $35.5M. The company earned profits of $12.0M, an increase of 17% over 2000.

 The forward-looking MetaSwitch VP3000 voice switch is aimed at telecom service providers who want a cost-effective evolutionary platform that supports legacy POTS subscribers while meeting growing demand for broadband voice services and advanced softswitch/voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) architectures.

 "While 2001 may not have been the best of times to launch a new telecom switching platform," Randall added, "we gained critical market traction, opened a test lab and launched the MetaSwitch interoperability partners program that included 14 vendors in less than three months. We discovered that even in a down economy, independent local exchange carriers were asking us to help them save money by providing legacy services today, and also to help them migrate to a next generation platform for emerging broadband/VoIP services."

 2002 Preview: MetaSwitch plans to announce a number of new customers at the conclusion of trials, as well as new members of its partnership program, which is being expanded to include a wide range of solutions providers. The company also will complete a series of certification programs with Telcordia, Illuminet, and NEBS, and will add support for additional protocols, including GR-303 and VoIP.

 "We have additional services and applications in our 2002 product roadmap," Randall said. "These include web-based customer self provisioning and new product releases for those service providers pursuing a distributed switching architecture strategy. We are also pleased to announce that we have hired Fineman PR of San Francisco to help raise our visibility. Fineman PR, with its technology practice focusing on telecommunications, was an obvious choice to support our branding, marketing and PR needs."

 About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch, a division of Data Connection Limited (DCL), develops and manufactures advanced telecom switching solutions combining broadband (VoATM and VoIP) and legacy voice access with Class 5 functions and subscriber services in a compact, fault tolerant system. The company's premier product, the MetaSwitch VP3000, offers service providers an immediate solution for broadband and Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), and a future-proof "softswitch" architecture for enhanced applications. Twenty-year-old parent company, DCL, is a leading provider of core communications technology, including networking protocols such as MPLS, SIP, MGCP, Megaco/H.248, SCTP, ATM, and IP routing, as well as conferencing, unified messaging and directory services. MetaSwitch and Data Connection have offices in Enfield (north London), Chester and Edinburgh in the UK, and Alameda, CA and Reston, VA in the US. Visit the MetaSwitch website at: www.\b metaswitch\b0 .com.

 Note to Editors: Data Connection and MetaSwitch are trademarks of Data Connection Limited and Data Connection Corporation. Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.