MetaSwitch Changes the Rules for Cable Telephony with New "COMPETE!" Solution for Cable Network Operators

Alameda, CA: July 31, 2006. MetaSwitch, a leading vendor in next-generation carrier switching and application solutions, today unveiled a new Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-based telephony solution aimed at the cable market called COMPETE! or Cable Operator Multiservice Platform for Enhanced Telephony Evolution. This new platform aimed at the cable market enables cable operators to offer voice services to both business and residential customers, including profitable business services such as hosted private branch exchange (PBX), unified communications and converged T1 services over Internet Protocol (IP).

The MetaSwitch IMS-based softswitch solution is already being deployed by more than 10 cable operators, including Clear Creek Telephone & TeleVision, Cunningham Communications, Penasco Valley Telecommunications and Vidia Communications. These forward-looking cable operators have adopted the COMPETE! solution in order to deliver a range of enhanced telephony services, fuel top-line revenue growth and boost long-term relevance to their subscribers in the face of IPTV, alternative broadband technologies and other competitive threats.

"While the telco world has a range of voice over IP solutions to choose from, the choice for cable operators has been much more limited, with few viable options," said Andy Randall, MetaSwitch vice president of marketing. "Cable operators will only survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive broadband world if they have access to the most service-rich and cost-effective technologies available for service delivery. That is why MetaSwitch has designed the COMPETE! solution specifically for cable providers, to enable them to serve both residential and business customers over their existing hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network more efficiently, reliably and cost-effectively than was previously possible."

Cisco® IP Next-Generation Network infrastructure plays a key role

With many cable operators moving toward IP-based networks and solutions, MetaSwitch has designed the COMPETE! solution to be compatible with IMS and PacketCable™ Release 2 specifications. MetaSwitch's COMPETE! solution features Cisco® IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) infrastructure components including the industry-leading Cisco uBR7246VXR and uBR10012 Cable Modem Termination Systems (CMTS), Linksys® multimedia telephony adapters and Scientific Atlanta® set-top boxes. The COMPETE! solution is enabled by Cisco's Service Exchange Framework (SEF) component of IP NGN, which enables cable operators with seamless support for IMS as well as non-IMS applications - including Web 2.0 applications, .NET applications and others.

The Cisco IP NGN is an architecture that enables cable operator migration to IP networks, increasing operators' abilities to deliver innovative new services, improving their operational and capital expenditure efficiencies, and advancing the network and service control that they and their customers need for long-term business success.

"Cisco is delighted to work with MetaSwitch on making its COMPETE! solution a reality," said Vic Northrup, vice president of U.S. service providers for Cisco. "Independent cable operators will benefit greatly by deploying the MetaSwitch COMPETE! solution because it will allow them to offer IP-based multimedia voice services that their customers require for long-term business success."

Other components of the COMPETE! solution include MetaSwitch's multimedia session control and application server and equipment from other companies including middleware for television-based services such as on-screen caller identification (CID), missed call list, and voicemail. In addition, as part of the COMPETE! solution, MetaSwitch announced support for dynamic quality of service (DQOS) within its Call Management Server component.

A key advantage of the COMPETE! solution is that it can be deployed as multiple distributed network elements, for scalability to hundreds of thousands of end users, or in an easily-deployed "drop-in" solution that integrates all the key telephony functions in a single chassis. Combined with MetaSwitch's extensive support and professional services capabilities, this makes it easy for cable operators to deploy, either to add voice services to an existing cable network for the first time, or to augment or replace existing voice/multimedia switching platforms.

Penasco Valley Telecommunications (PVT) is one cable operator that is using the MetaSwitch solution to roll out services to residential, business and larger enterprise customers in its New Mexico region. According to Mark Reams, Chief Business Officer for Penasco Valley Telecommunications, PVT is currently moving all its lines from its current PacketCable VoIP solution to a MetaSwitch COMPETE! solution. "We needed a dense, scalable platform with the support necessary to serve both residential and business customers and take us forward on a future-proof architecture based on IMS," said Reams. "We have been pleasantly surprised by how quickly and easily we were able to install the MetaSwitch and migrate our existing customers."

Clear Creek Telephone & TeleVision, Cunningham Communications and Vidia Communications are already deploying the COMPETE! solution in order to offer voice services to residential customers. "Our residential customers have many choices for their entertainment and telecommunications services and we want to make sure that when they make the switch to our service, they stay with us." said Samual Curtis, P.E., for Vidia. "MetaSwitch's platform not only makes it possible for us to meet our customers' high expectations, it also provides for flexible deployment options to better manage customer needs giving us the ability to serve all facets of our broadband network, which ultimately lets us take our own business to the next level."

For more information on the COMPETE! solution, visit MetaSwitch at the Cisco Systems® booth (#213) from Sunday (July 30) to Wednesday (August 2) at The Independent Show taking place at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers in Chicago, Illinois.

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.