With a pair of new boxes, this company has mapped out an easier voice upgrade path from TDM to SIP.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [March 17, 2006]

Plano, Tex.-based General Bandwidth, now known as GENBAND, is releasing two new products as the telecom conference season begins. The two new products, the S4 Applications Server and the C2 Signaling Controller, work with the G6 Universal Media Gateway (UMG) to enable the legacy-infrastructure compatible deployment of advanced SIP VoIP services.

Light Reading says the new products are the direct result of the acquisition of SIP specialist Syndeo (see Genband on the Run). Syndeo is known to ISP-Planet readers as a key supplier to VoIP provider CommPartners (see No Old Iron).

The company aims to be profitable in the third quarter of 2006.

Triple network compatibility
The goal of the new product line is simply stated. "Our new products allow customers to light up voice services for less than $50,000, less expensive compared to CopperCom and Metaswitch," says Jody Bennett, GENBAND vice president of marketing. "Some of our smaller customers, who find that a Broadsoft deployment would break their business case, deploy with Asterisk on Linux."

GENBAND's products are certified for copper, coax, and fiber networks. The company now has 80 customers, up from 30 at the start of the previous year. It has ILEC, CLEC, cable broadband, and utility company customers.

GENBAND's products are IP Media Subsystem (IMS) complaint, meaning they're standards-based for converged services.

Talk America, a U.S. CLEC that is building its infrastructure to replace facilities no longer offered by ILECs, is one notable customer. Northeastern Pennsylvania-based Blue Ridge Communicationsis another customer, an intriguing local cable company that offers a true triple play.

GENBAND is number two in the market for mid- and low-density trunking, which Bennett says is defined as 10,000 DS-0 sessions or fewer. GENBAND's products compete with market-leading Cisco's 5850 series, he says.

Bennett says he's optimistic about demand for the new product suite because VoIP deployments are up. "VoIP deployments are an initial indicator of demand for our products in the core of the network," he claims.

Evolution upgrade
GENBAND's products enable service providers to offer all of the premium phone services that the ILECs overcharge POTS customers for, to monitor those services, and to provision them.

GENBAND has mapped out an upgrade path that starts with the deployment of a G6 in front of a class 5 switch. The G6 delivers features over IP, and the class 5 delivers features to legacy phones. When an S4 and C2 are added, the G6 connects directly to the PSTN, the application servers deliver new features to the VoIP phones, and the class 5 switch is no longer needed. The key is that there is no rip and replace. Instead, features and phones are added as the customer's wishes and budget allow. "It could take 10 or 15 years, but eventually the class 5 switch is completely eliminated," says Bennett.

Pricing and availability
Pricing is not available. The G6, S4, and C2 are available now.

—End