Jackson Becomes First Tennessee City to Get VoIP over FTTP

Aeneas to deploy MetaSwitch VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch for voice services over Jackson Energy Authority's fiber network

 

Jackson, TN: March 30, 2004. Building on its success deploying the nation's largest fully-funded Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) network, the Jackson Energy Authority is partnering with Aeneas Internet & Telephone, the largest ISP in western Tennessee, to offer voice services to 31,000 homes and businesses. Aeneas has selected MetaSwitch as its VoIP technology partner for the venture based on the company's proven ability working with the JEA's chosen FTTP network vendor, Wave7 Optics (www.wave7optics.com). Using MetaSwitch's flagship VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch, Aeneas will offer Jackson residents a broad range of advanced calling features, along with the ability to manage and configure those services via the Web.

"We chose MetaSwitch because the VP3500 is the only softswitch with a proven track record of over 18 months of delivering real Class 5 services over IP networks," said Jonathon V. Harlan, CEO of Aeneas Internet & Telephone. "With the recent bankruptcies and acquisition activity among switch vendors, we were particularly impressed with MetaSwitch's long-term stability as a profitable, privately-held company with over 20 years of success."

"The value proposition of FTTP depends in large part on the ability to deliver next generation services including Voice over IP," said Danny Briere, CEO of TeleChoice, a telecom analyst firm that tracks the FTTP industry closely. "Voice over IP is emerging as the initial killer application for broadband, and Aeneas Telephone, MetaSwitch and Wave7 are well ahead of most in the industry in deploying VoIP over fiber to the premises. A lot of people will be closely watching how quickly the Jackson subscribers take to the offering, because many business strategies around the country depend on success of value added services like this."

"The Last Mile Link® is a proven network for delivering VOIP to residential and commercial customers and the Jackson Energy network is one of our most significant deployments," said Emmanuel Vella, Chief Marketing Officer at Wave7. "Companies like Aeneas can quickly and confidently roll out voice services knowing that Wave7 and MetaSwitch have completed rigorous interoperability testing, making the combination of the MetaSwitch VP3500 and the LML a proven end to end solution."

"Aeneas is a forward-thinking organization with a strong customer base and an ambitious plan to offer a complete Triple Play package," said Patrick Hally, Regional Sales Manager at MetaSwitch. "With its unique support for both VoATM and VoIP protocols, MetaSwitch is a perfect match for new and existing service providers looking to deploy genuine telco-grade voice services over both ATM and IP-based FTTP networks."

The MetaSwitch VP3500 is the leading broadband-enabled Next Generation Class 5 Switch in North America, with over 40 deployments, and support for VoIP, VoATM and GR-303 as well as advanced Web-based subscriber services. The VP3500 has proven interoperability with a range of fiber devices as well as the flexibility for both VoIP and VoATM fiber rollouts. Service providers are able to simultaneously serve customers in multiple calling areas with over 100 Class 5 features and services, all supported by the switch without external application servers. The MetaSwitch VP3500 is easy to deploy and scales from 400 to over 250,000 subscribers in a single rack.

About Aeneas Internet & Telephone

Aeneas Internet & Telephone, based in Jackson, Tennessee, is the state's only locally owned and operated facilities-based Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC). Aeneas began as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in 1995, and soon grew into west Tennessee's largest Internet provider offering Dial-up Internet Access, ISDN Internet Access, Dedicated T1 Access, Broadband DSL, Web Hosting, Web Development and Email. In 1999, Aeneas became a CLEC in order to provide Tennesseans with a choice on local and long distance telephone service. Becoming a CLEC has allowed Aeneas to offer Local and Long Distance, ISDN, PRI, T-1 and Frame Relay services.

For more information, see www.aeneas.net.

About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch, a division of privately held Data Connection, is the result of 22 years of experience supplying leading-edge technology to the telecommunications industry. Data Connection's track record of consistent profitability ensures long-term commitment to product development and customer support. The widely-deployed MetaSwitch VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch offers service providers an immediate solution for broadband (VoIP and/or VoATM) and POTS service and a future-proof "softswitch" architecture for enhanced applications.

MetaSwitch has offices in Alameda, CA, Dallas, TX and Reston, VA in the US and London, Chester and Edinburgh in the UK.

For more information, see www.metaswitch.com.