Regional Wholesale Transport Providers Turn to MetaSwitch for Core VoIP Networks

Alameda, CA: July 25, 2006. Today MetaSwitch, a leading vendor in next-generation carrier switching and application solutions, announced that wholesale transport providers MAIN and IRIS Networks are deploying MetaSwitch's softswitches in their state-of-the-art, fiber-optic networks. The two regional network operators manage a total of more than 4,400 fiber miles over which they each offer IP-based carrier services with TDM and IP hand-off to local exchange carriers, as well as regional and national inter-exchange carriers.

MAIN (Montana Advanced Information Network), a division of Vision Net, and IRIS Networks, of Tennessee, were both established in the 1990s by consortia of local exchange carriers. Both have the goal of building regional fiber-optic networks to lower signaling and transport interconnection costs for their member companies and other carrier customers. MAIN and IRIS Networks will be using MetaSwitch's core softswitch as part of initiatives to build out their next-generation networks, offer a broader range of Class 4 and Class 5-based solutions, and expand their businesses beyond pure transport to higher-value multimedia services.

MetaSwitch also announced a range of new technologies as part of its Multimedia-Enhanced Telephony Architecture (META) strategy targeted at carriers migrating to converged multi-service networks. These enhancements, focused on supporting a carrier's ability to deploy IMS-based services preparing carriers to deliver a robust suite of multimedia services. MetaSwitch also unveiled an enhanced partner program and the expansion of its professional services team designed to speed a carrier's ability to move from evaluation, to deployment, to revenue with advanced IP services.

MAIN is expanding its network with distributed media gateways controlled by a centralized softswitch call agent, which is a significantly simplified network compared to traditional switching architectures, according to Corey Jensen, Operations Manager for MAIN. "We conducted a detailed evaluation of all the leading softswitch solutions available for distributed IP voice switching. While several vendors could demonstrate their experience in pure trunking scenarios, MetaSwitch stood out for the breadth of proven applications, beyond core voice switching, that they could support today."

IRIS Networks is initially deploying MetaSwitch's core switch for long distance SIP trunking over its Cisco-powered OC-48 dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) network. The company plans eventually to offer higher level voice services to its carrier customers.

"A key differentiator for MetaSwitch was the ability to deliver a broad range of Class 4 routing features from the same platform as a rich set of Class 5 capabilities," said Peter De Bono, Director of Engineering for IRIS Networks. "Most of the vendors we evaluated still focus on one application or the other, whereas MetaSwitch uniquely demonstrated their ability to migrate from our initial deployment to future IP-based enhanced subscriber services, without requiring a major system upgrade."

"Today we are competing with ever nimbler service providers and to stay on top, we need to be more flexible than in the past," said Willie Lewis, Chief Manager for IRIS Networks. "With MetaSwitch's core switches we are running our network in one of the most efficient and profitable ways possible."

The consolidated network operations model represented by MAIN and IRIS Networks, whereby telcos combine their buying power to build, scale and improve competitiveness, is an increasing trend, notes Bernie Arnason, co-founder of Pivot Group LLC, a strategic telecom market research firm that is working with IRIS Networks. "MAIN and IRIS Networks understand the challenges of their carrier customers, and are well-positioned to leverage next-gen technology. MetaSwitch appears to be stepping up its profile in the 'carrier's carrier' space by winning these accounts."

"MetaSwitch has traditionally been known for our strengths in packet-based Class 5 services," said Andy Randall, vice president of marketing for MetaSwitch. "These deployments reflect the fact that we have significantly expanded our market reach by addressing a range of carrier requirements, from end-office replacement to core IP backbone switching in the largest next generation networks."

About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch is an industry-leading vendor of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) switching and applications solutions for both packet and circuit-switched networks. Its widely deployed call agent, media/signaling gateway and application server platform supports a full range of legacy Class 4/5 capabilities and hosted unified communications services, and scales from a few hundred to millions of subscribers in both integrated and distributed configurations. Customers include incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers, as well as operators of broadband wireless, cable and fiber networks. MetaSwitch is a division of established telecom technology provider Data Connection. The company is consistently profitable and privately held, with main U.S. offices in California and Virginia, and European headquarters in London, U.K. For more information: www.metaswitch.com.