ISPs and CLECs that think the cost of entry into the VoIP market is millions of dollars will be surprised to learn about gateway hardware priced under $10,000 and CPE that generally sells under $200.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [May 10, 2004]

Sherbrooke, Quebec-based Mediatrix was founded in 1997, and is no newcomer to the telecoms equipment business. In fact, the company has made IP telephony equipment since at least 1999—in January of that year, it announced a prestigious customer: the U.S. Treasury Department.

Now the company is targeting ISPs as a sales channel with easy to set up CPE and a proprietary technology that allows a Mediatrix CPE device to share an IP address with the end user's computer.

The company's 1500 series (for T-1s) and 1600 series (for E-1s) gateways are small, translating one or two T-1s worth of traffic into one or two ISDN PRI lines on the PSTN side. Since each T-1 (and each PRI) can handle 23 voice calls, the devices can handle up to 23 or 46 voice calls.

On the CPE end, the company has just released its Mediatrix 2102 VoIP access device, with a feature the company calls Transparent Address Sharing (TAS). Jean-Gregoire Manoukian, product marketing manager for Mediatrix, explains, "we could have placed a NAT router in the device, but that can create problems for PCs, especially for certain programs, such as VPNs. If a PC user adds a new program, such as an interactive game, that has to access the Internet, it may not work if the device is using NAT."

The idea behind TAS, he explains, is that the ISP should not have to field customer calls about problems related to NAT.

Instead, TAS allows the VoIP device and the PC to have the same IP address. The 2102 filters the traffic based on destination port. Any traffic directed to the 2102 stops there, and all other traffic passes through to the PC.

The other key technology shipped in the 2102 is auto-provisioning and automatic firmware updates. The device uses HTTP or TFTP during the provisioning process, and also uses the Internet for automatic firmware updates. Again, the key idea is that the customer does not need to call the ISP.

The 2102 has two FXS ports (providing power as well as an analog connection) for phones or fax machines, and two Ethernet ports for a PC and a broadband modem.

Designed for SIP VoIP, the device does not handle H.323 and MGCP/NCS protocols.

ISPs wishing to provide VoIP will need to do more than buy this equipment, of course. They will need to follow the rules and regulations that cover the old phone network if they allow calls to go to it, which will require a CLEC partner.

Nevertheless, many ISPs will be interested in this product—especially after they see the prices below.

Pricing and availability
The products described in this article are available now. Specific pricing was not available at press time

The 2102 device has a list price of over $200, but volume orders can garner steep discounts.

The 1531, supporting a single T-1 line, and the 1532, supporting two T-1 lines, are under $10,000, with the single line model significantly cheaper.

The 1531 can be upgraded to the 1532 for a price slightly higher than the difference in price between the two models. The upgrade simply involves adding a NIC card.

—End