Bell Atlantic Awards Three Contracts for Internet Telephony Access Service - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, Oct 11, 1999

Bell Atlantic Wednesday awarded three contracts to establish a system to handle voice calls and fax calls from Internet telephony service providers (ITSPs).

The hardware and software provided by Cisco Systems Inc., Vocal Tec Communications LTD and MIND CTI Inc. will provide the foundation for Bell Atlantic's new wholesale voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service. This service will enable ITSPs to complete their customers' Internet-based voice and data calls to customers on the public switched telephone network without investing in additional network infrastructure.

"This is a significant step in our effort to offer Internet telephony carriers cost-effective access to East Coast customers," said Tom Caldwell, Bell Atlantic's vice president for carrier services marketing.

Cisco Systems Inc., based in San Jose, Calif., is the primary supplier that will furnish the hardware for the platform, using its AS5300/Voice Gateway and Open Packet Telephony architecture.

Vocal Tec, based in Israel, will team with Cisco on the project and provide software for the platform, specifically the Vocal Tec Gatekeeper. The gatekeeper software will serve as the "nerve center" of the voice network, performing authentication, authorization and accounting, allowing for flexible call routing and dialing plans, third-party billing/management, centralized provisioning of gateways and the addition of new/enhanced applications.

The third contract goes to Israeli-based MIND CTI Ltd. MIND will provide the billing solutions for a multi-ITSP platform and an interface to Bell Atlantic's legacy systems. The MIND-iPhonEX system works with the Cisco and VocalTec equipment, and is currently being used for billing and management of millions of prepaid calling cards by a number of carriers worldwide. Bell Atlantic plans to offer VoIP access services to carriers by the end of the year in the Boston, New York, northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., markets.

"We're genuinely excited about this new service," Caldwell said. "It will allow ITSPs to buy voice and fax access services directly from Bell Atlantic. This is a welcome, cost-effective solution for Internet telephone providers. They will be able to reach customers in our markets without having to build network infrastructure, saving them potentially millions of dollars."

In July, Cybertel Communications Corp. signed on as the first carrier for Bell Atlantic's VoIP access service on this platform. When Bell Atlantic's VoIP platform is completed, Cybertel will be able to deliver Internet-based telephone calls to the East Coast from anywhere in the world.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and information industry. With more than 43 million telephone access lines and nearly 10 million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest investors in high-growth global communications markets, with operations and investments in 23 countries.