In addition to the vendor big boys Cisco, Lucent and Nortel Networks, there are some smaller companies playing in the multiservice platform space.
One example is Overture Networks. The company, which targets competitive service providers and IXCs, delivers products in the $15,000 and below range. Jeff Reedy, president and CEO, and Chip Redden, senior director of marketing and product management, say that is significantly less expensive than simular products provided by companies such as Nortel.
Three-year-old Overture sells the ISG 5000 multiservice platform for medium and large customers and the ISG 2200 to allow service providers to reach small and medium business customers. Both products are based on the same software and use the same interface cards, but the 2200 has a single-slot chassis while the 5000 has a four-slot chassis. The 5000 typically sells for between $7,000 and $15,000; the 2500 costs about half of that.
Reedy and Redden say service providers don’t want to cannibalize existing services such as frame relay and private line; they don’t want to replace their existing infrastructure; they want to offer Ethernet; and they want a clear migration to the IP MPLS backbone. So the company has built its products to meet those needs.
Overture, which has been selling products for nine months, has 10 customers. PPL Telcom, which is using Overture equipment to deliver high-speed Internet access, PBX trunking and more, recently added its name to that list.
