MetaSwitch and 2Wire Announce Interoperability for Next-Generation Voice Over Broadband

OpenVoB Members Team up to Deliver Assured Interoperability for VoB Without Legacy Class 5 Switch


ALAMEDA & SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2001-- MetaSwitch and 2Wire(TM), Inc., (www.2Wire.com), the leading provider of residential gateways, today announced successful interoperability testing between 2Wire's HomePortal(TM) residential gateway and MetaSwitch's VP3000, the first Broadband Voice Platform to combine voice gateway and Class 5 softswitch functions.

 Together, these products deliver a complete standards-based broadband voice solution encompassing next-generation access and backbone networks that does not rely on a separate Class 5 switch.

 Thanks to the use of the mature Broadband Loop Emulation Service (BLES) standard, the 2Wire HomePortal residential gateway passed the rigorous MetaSwitch VP3000 interoperability tests without modifications to either product.

 Commenting on the testing results, John Lazar, MetaSwitch's vice president of sales and marketing, said, "The successful testing between 2Wire and MetaSwitch products is further proof that an open standards-based approach, which both companies actively support, works. Successes such as this demonstrate the maturity of the BLES standard and the broad range of products that can be deployed."

 "Service providers are looking to equipment vendors to adopt open standards and to work together to ensure trouble-free, multi-vendor interoperability. Our membership in OpenVoB and work with other OpenVoB members such as MetaSwitch underscores our commitment to respond to this initiative," said Roy Johnson, vice president of marketing and business development for 2Wire. "We're pleased that our interoperability with the MetaSwitch VP3000 enables service providers to deploy 2Wire HomePortal residential gateways for Voice over Broadband."

 The combined 2Wire / MetaSwitch solution offers the following key features and benefits:

 --  User-installable Residential Gateway: The 2Wire HomePortal

 residential gateway is designed to enable households, home

 offices, telecommuters, and small offices to share a single

 broadband Internet connection amongst PCs and telephones

 throughout the home. Integrating a network hub,

 high-performance router, business-grade firewall and

 value-added software all within a single device, the

 HomePortal is easy to install and easy to manage via a

 browser-based user console that provides a familiar interface

 for user-friendly home networking.

 Working in conjunction with the 2Wire Phone Port HPNA

 telephony adapter, the HomePortal delivers data and voice

 connectivity by providing high-speed Internet access, regular

 telephone service and Voice over DSL (Voice over IP and/or

 Voice over ATM) simultaneously. The HomePortal will enable an

 entirely new class of enhanced services for the consumer

 without adding significant costs, by leveraging telephone

 services available to consumers today through their telephone

 company.

 --  Integrated Voice Gateway / Class 5 Softswitch: The

 award-winning MetaSwitch VP3000 Broadband Voice Platform

 combines voice gateway and Class 5 Softswitch functions in a

 high density, carrier class system that can be deployed in an

 end office/co-location environment, or a carrier's regional

 facilities. With integrated subscriber services, such as

 Caller ID, and direct SS7 connections into the telephony

 network, no separate Class 5 switch is needed for a complete

 broadband voice solution. In addition, the VP3000's

 future-proof Softswitch architecture offers a clear upgrade

 path to Voice over IP and MPLS (VoIP/MPLS) and other

 next-generation broadband voice services, including wireless

 and cable.

 --  Standards-based Voice over Broadband: The ATM Forum's BLES

 standard, as employed in the OpenVoB D1 implementation model,

 provides for pain-free interoperability with Channel

 Associated Signalling and genuine toll-quality voice using

 AAL2. In addition, with the LES Embedded Operations Channel,

 residential gateways can be remotely configured and diagnosed

 by service providers, removing any need for user intervention.

 To ensure continued interoperability, both MetaSwitch and

 2Wire are committed to ongoing support for open standards as

 new protocols emerge.

 About 2Wire

 2Wire, Inc. (www.2Wire.com) is dedicated to developing integrated products that deliver broadband content and services throughout the home.

 2Wire's full suite of broadband solutions, which includes the award-winning line of HomePortal residential gateways, provide consumers with a simple, flexible way to leverage a broadband connection to enable feature-rich Internet, telephony, entertainment, and other services to be delivered to computers, phones and entertainment equipment.

 2Wire was named Technology Partners Technology Outlook "Investor's Choice" for the second consecutive year. The company has also been recognized as one of the Hot 100 Private Companies by Upside magazine. 2Wire's HomePortal wireless residential gateway was awarded Best of Show honors at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2001.

 About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch was formed by Data Connection (DCL) to build best-of-breed Voice over Broadband solutions, based on the unrivaled software and hardware experience, expertise and technology that Data Connection has built up over nearly twenty profitable years supplying the most demanding Service Provider and equipment vendor customers.

MetaSwitch builds on the powerful foundation created by Data Connection, pulling together its massive ongoing investment in the technology required to build converged network solutions (such as ATM, SS7, MPLS, MGCP/H.248, SIP), and new revenue-generating services (directory, unified messaging, multimedia conferencing).

 The MetaSwitch support and customer management infrastructure taps right into the deep reservoir of professionalism and experience Data Connection has developed by helping its large strategic customers deliver successful products and services.

MetaSwitch and Data Connection have offices in Alameda (California), Reston (Virginia), and Enfield (North London), Chester and Edinburgh in the UK. For information, email contact@metaswitch.com or visit www.\b metaswitch\b0 .com.

 2Wire, the 2Wire logo and HomePortal are trademarks of 2Wire, Inc. Data Connection and MetaSwitch are trademarks of Data Connection Limited and Data Connection Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.