Business Services Industry

New Knoxville Telephone Deploys MetaSwitch in Industry's First Converged Telco and Cable Broadband Voice Network

Business Wire, Jan 17, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2003

Independent Ohio Telco Selects MetaSwitch VP3500 Next Generation Class

5 Switch

MetaSwitch announced today that rural local exchange carrier New Knoxville Telephone has selected its VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch to provide local dial-tone services to subscribers of its Cable TV and CLEC subsidiaries NKTELCO and GoldStar Communications.

The deployment is the industry's first to utilize a single next generation switching platform to natively terminate VoIP, VoATM and TDM calls originating on traditional telco and cable access networks.

"Many rural telcos, like New Knoxville Telephone, also own a local cable TV operation. Having access to such a cable network gives such companies the opportunity to expand out of their incumbent telephone region," said Danny Klein, analyst at Yankee Group. "A key enabler for this expansion is the availability of genuine next generation Class 5 switches which can simultaneously serve both packet-based cable and traditional POTS lines without requiring additional gateway equipment."

"After evaluating a number of Class 5 'alternatives', we identified the MetaSwitch VP3500 as the only true Next Generation Class 5 Switch capable of supporting our legacy POTS customers while leveraging the VoIP potential of our installed cable network," said Preston Meyer, General Manager at New Knoxville Telephone. "We were impressed by how easy it was to install the switch and by MetaSwitch's exemplary customer support."

"We are pleased that MetaSwitch's unique breadth of capabilities and compelling economics have enabled New Knoxville Telephone to achieve this industry-first milestone," said John Lazar, MetaSwitch Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

The MetaSwitch VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch installed in the NKTELCO and GoldStar networks provides over 80 Class 5 features in an ultra-compact chassis integrating Softswitch, Media and Signaling Gateway components.

In the telephony access network, legacy POTS is delivered via an AFC UMC1000 DLC, with broadband voice over DSL and T1 access lines using the ATM Forum Broadband Loop Emulation Service (BLES) standard. In the cable access network, subscribers are supported over a hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network, using CableLabs' Network-based Call Signaling (NCS) for VoIP.

About New Knoxville Telephone

In 1905, the New Knoxville Telephone Company was founded to provide the area residents with local telephone service. Privately held by mostly local residents, the New Knoxville Telephone company has continued to grow and serve the communications needs of its customers for the past 95 years.

In 1985, the New Knoxville Telephone Company started NKTELCO, Inc., the affiliated cable television company. NKTELCO currently serves, New Knoxville, New Bremen, and Minster, Ohio. NKTELCO also offers advanced high-speed dedicated Internet service.

GoldStar Communications was started in 2001 to provide telecommunications, video, and data services outside of the current serving areas of New Knoxville Telephone Company and NKTELCO.

For further information, visit NKTELCO's website at www.nktelco.com or GoldStar Communications at www.gldstr.com.

About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch, a division of Data Connection, is the result of 21 years of experience supplying leading-edge technology to the telecommunications industry. Data Connection's track record of consistent profitability ensures long-term commitment to product development and customer support.

The MetaSwitch VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch offers service providers an immediate solution for broadband (VoIP and/or VoATM) and POTS service and a future-proof "softswitch" architecture for enhanced applications.

MetaSwitch has offices in London, Chester and Edinburgh in the UK, and Alameda, CA, Dallas, TX and Reston, VA in the US.

For more information, see www.metaswitch.com.

Data Connection and MetaSwitch are trademarks of Data Connection Limited and Data Connection Corporation. Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.