MetaSwitch and Data Connection Report Record Revenue and Profits for Fiscal Year 2008

By Metaswitch on Oct 29, 2008 8:00:00 AM

Customer base grows to more than 400 network operators and 250 OEMs

 

LONDON: October 29, 2008. Telecom solutions provider Data Connection Ltd (DCL) today announced record revenues of $118.1 million for the Fiscal Year ending August 31, 2008, an increase of 15.4% year-over-year. The company was also profitable for the 27th consecutive year.

The company's MetaSwitch division grew 22% compared to the same period last year, and now accounts for 78% of the total revenue. Growth was driven both by larger Tier 1 carrier deployments and continued expansion of the customer base, to a total of more than 400 service provider and 250 OEM customers. These solid results have been achieved despite a challenging economic climate in recent months. Indeed, the year's final quarter was the company's strongest ever.

"Clearly we and our customers are subject to the same macro forces as the rest of the economy," said Ian Ferguson, chairman and founder of Data Connection and MetaSwitch. "However, we are seeing benefits from the current slowdown as our carrier and OEM customers search out suppliers who can deliver clear and immediate positive impact on their bottom line. This is what we do, based on our reliability, exceptional customer support and service, quality engineering and innovation. While the future is less certain than ever, we see this fundamental value proposition continuing to drive strong growth through 2009."

This growth has manifested itself over the last year with the expansion of the customer base, innovative new product introductions, ongoing investment in research and development, and expansion into new geographies. Highlights for the year include a number of financial, customer and product milestones:

  • Financial
    • Significant investment in January 2008 by Francisco Partners and Sequoia Capital, the first external funding in the company since its founding in 1981, providing the financial resources and expertise to take the company to the next level of growth.
    • MetaSwitch revenues of $92M, representing a 22% growth year-over-year.
    • Total group revenues of $118.1M, representing a 15.4% growth year-over-year.
    • Operating margins of more than 20%.

  • Customer
    • Selection by EMBARQ® of MetaSwitch's softswitch, media gateway and MetaSphere application suite to form the core of its new EMBARQ Smart IP EnterpriseSM solution.
    • Addition of NTS Communications, Dialogix Telecom, Nevada Comstock Communications and FastTrack Communications to the MetaSwitch customer family, bringing the total number of competitive local exchange carrier (CLECs) customers to more than 125.
    • With its deployment with Ontario & Trumansburg Telephone Companies (OTTC), MetaSwitch is now providing the core softswitch technology for 150 independent operating companies (IOCs) in North America.
    • Data Connection's position as the industry's leading independent developer of control plane protocol solutions was reaffirmed by reaching the milestones of the 150th MPLS license, and 100th IP Routing license, with customers in the USA, Canada, Europe, Israel, India, China, Japan and Korea.
    • Additional equipment vendors have selected DC-SBC to enable them to offer Session Border Control and IMS P-CSCF function in their products.

  • Product
    • The MetaView Network Management SystemTM was introduced, including industry-first diagnostic capabilities to simplify network management, reduce operational costs and enable successful next-generation network rollouts.
    • MetaSwitch's telephony services were enhanced with the introduction of the innovative desktop application, MetaSphere CommPortal AssistantTM.
    • Data Connection's standards-based VoIP and IMS capabilities have been enhanced, and proven through participation at the IMS Plugfests III and IV, and SIPit22 interoperability events.

About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch is an industry-leading vendor of switching and applications solutions for both packet and circuit-switched networks. Its MetaSphere applications suite enables a broad set of hosted IP communications services, while its core session control and media/signaling gateway products support a full range of Class 4/5 softswitch capabilities. Customers include many of the world's leading operators of wireline, wireless and cable networks, with deployments that scale to millions of subscribers. For more information, please visit www.metaswitch.com.

About Data Connection

Data Connection Limited (DCL) is the leading independent developer and supplier of IMS, SBC, SIP, Megaco/H.248, Diameter, MGCP, Unicast and Multicast IP Routing, Packet and Optical MPLS, ATM, and SNA portable products. Customers include the world's largest software and hardware vendors, including Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, IBM, and Microsoft. For more information, please visit www.dataconnection.com.

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.