Nortel Networks Verifies Interoperability of Avici Systems Core Routers for Succession Voice over IP Networks

Business Wire, June 22, 2004

CHICAGO -- Enables Service Providers to Confidently Deploy Voice over IP onto a Carrier Grade IP Network

As a part of its ongoing efforts to help service providers converge and simplify their networks, Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT) today announced it has successfully verified the interoperability of Avici Systems core routers in Nortel Networks Succession Voice over IP (VoIP) solutions. As a result of rigorous testing, Nortel Networks can now offer service providers a highly reliable core router to complete its end-to-end VoIP solution.

This interoperable solution enables service providers to reduce the time-to-market of VoIP service offerings by simplifying new deployments, as well as easing the integration of Avici routers into existing Succession VoIP networks. The Succession/Avici solution provides another step in Nortel Networks strategy for service provider network transformation, which enables a more profitable, services-centric business model with sustainable revenue growth.

"Nortel Networks and Avici Systems are removing the risks that service providers face when deploying VoIP onto IP networks that are not carrier grade and VoIP verified," said Scott McFeely, vice president, Service Provider Data Networks, Nortel Networks. "We are offering more than just piece parts. We can provide complete solutions with the resiliency and performance required for service provider networks delivering VoIP and other time-sensitive, high-margin IP services."

Avici routers have been thoroughly tested in two Nortel Networks labs. Nortel Networks has completed hundreds of test cases over several thousands of hours of testing to verify the Succession/Avici solution, running as many as two million simulated calls per hour over the test network.

Avici routers are now ongoing elements of Succession solution verification testing, release over release, providing ongoing assurance to service providers who have deployed Succession VoIP solutions. Testing entails an extensive suite of carrier class criteria including: telephony-grade service reliability, the ability to maintain voice quality of service (QoS), and network resiliency under fault events across the packet core.

Testing of network level resiliency and protection features showed that restoration of physical or operational failures was consistently below 50 milliseconds(1), the generally accepted benchmark for carrier grade services required to support real-time applications like VoIP. During both route processor failovers and software updates, test results showed zero packet loss across the network.

The Succession/Avici solution provides complete end-to-end prioritization for VoIP traffic from the network edge through the IP/MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) core, enabling proper treatment of VoIP traffic across the network. Nortel Networks has integrated the Avici Systems portfolio into its Preside Multiservice Data Manager application, allowing service providers to efficiently manage and troubleshoot VoIP and other real-time services.

"Currently real-time traffic is about ten percent of total IP traffic in the United States," said Roz Roseboro, Program Director at RHK. "But this percentage will dramatically increase as broadband access proliferates, enabling new real-time voice and multimedia services to grow. Effective support of these high-margin services through improved reliability, traffic tiering, and management capabilities are essential service provider requirements. The combination of Avici's routing technologies with Nortel Networks Succession portfolio will enable service providers to better meet these requirements."

With a resilient, service-enabled network in place, providers can accelerate the delivery of new revenue generating services. Such converged infrastructures will enable the support for a rich set of VoIP services in conjunction with additional multimedia-rich, high-margin data services, all while alleviating the capital and operation overhead associated with running multiple parallel networks.

For the entire year of 2003 and the first quarter of 2004, Nortel Networks ranked #1 in the global markets for voice over packet ports shipped and global softswitch revenue, according to Synergy Research Group. Nortel Networks has a proven portfolio of products and services for packet voice and multimedia services. Nortel Networks is providing Succession VoP solutions to leading operators, including Bell Canada, Cable & Wireless Cayman Islands, Charter Communications, China Netcom, China Railcom, Cox Communications, Hong Kong Broadband Network, MCI, Sprint and Verizon Communications.

Avici's family of routers is purpose-built to meet carrier requirements for the highest scalability, reliability and network availability, while lowering the total cost of building and operating their networks. The company's routing systems provide new IP solutions to some of the world's leading service providers. Avici routers are the only core routing products able to offer the protection of Non-Stop Routing and the capacity to support terabits of in-service growth required to migrate large volumes of VoIP traffic as networks converge.