MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — Nortel Networks has developed a new VoIP platform with the help of Edgewater Networks, for service providers to sell to SMBs and enterprise branch offices.
Nortel’s carrier VoIP unit is using Edgewater’s network services gateways and VoIP support system in the new product, which is launching at an opportune time: The carrier-hosted IP communications market is projected to reach $8.4 billion worldwide by 2013, according to Infonetics Research.
Combined, the Nortel and Edgewater products will help users reduce the cost and complexity of on-site routing, control and management of traffic and IP calls, executives said. There also are business continuity protections such as backup call paths to the PSTN if the IP connection dies, as well as unified communications applications such as video conferencing and instant messaging.
In line with the introduction of the beefed-up hosted IP communications system, Nortel said it is expanding its carrier VoIP third-party partner program. The program has completed interoperability testing with more than 100 companies and 200 partner products, Nortel said, which means more carriers can use the company’s hardware.
Interoperable equipment includes line access gateways and IP PBXs, application servers and softswitches, session border controllers and set-top boxes. Nortel said it’s also achieved interoperability with more than 80 percent of IP PBX and IP phone manufacturers.
“Nortel understands that service providers need to move quickly and introduce solutions that integrate a broad range of devices and applications both within the operator’s network and at the end-user’s premise,” Samih Elhage, president of Nortel’s carrier VoIP division, said in a prepared statement. “To help meet this need, we have expanded our interoperability program which is designed to give a complete, end-to-end testing environment tailored to the carrier’s specific needs and subscriber demands.”
BT Spain is among the carriers working with Nortel’s third-party program.
