AT THE HEART OF THE CONVERGED NETWORK

VoIP TECHNOLOGIES

IN RURAL AREAS

Bob Harvey

Regional Director, MetaSwitch

Spring VON – April 1, 2004

Slide 2

INTRODUCTIONS

• Bob Harvey• Regional Director, MetaSwitch

• MetaSwitch• A division of Data Connection• Financially stable for 22+ years• Established provider of communications

technology to• Service providers (SBC, Verizon, BT, …)• Vendors (Cisco, Lucent, Nortel, Siemens, …)

• VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch• Proven Class 5 switch with rich set of subscriber

features for legacy replacement or cap & grow• Broadband (IP & ATM) and TDM interfaces today• Next gen services – IP Centrex, web self-care• 40+ deployments – about 50% with rural telcos

Slide 3

AGENDA

• Background – the rural service provider market

• Why Rural Service Providers are moving to VoIP

• Case studies• New Knoxville Telephone• Yukon Telephone

• Conclusion

Slide 4

THE RURAL SERVICE PROVIDER MARKET

• While urban areas are served by RBOCs, rural areas in the United States are typically served by independent telephone companies, often community-owned co-operatives

• There are more than 2,000 such independent operating companies (IOCs) in the United States• The 100 largest alone have >23M access lines• >50% of Class 5 switches serve <5,000 subscribers

• While some are conservative, many IOCs are on the leading edge of new technology like VoIP• High broadband availability• Many have co-operative ownership structure – so demand

new services is from members• Smaller organizations, so shorter decision-making process

Slide 5

WHY VOICE OVER IP FOR RURAL TELCOS?

• Growing recognition of cost savings of • Packet-based infrastructure – management & bandwidth

efficiency• Next generation class 5 switches – capital cost,

management, support, maintenance• … And threats to funding structure (USF, NECA) are

creating real cost consciousness

• USDA Rural Utilities Service starting to accept VoIPgear, e.g.• Occam Networks Broadband Loop Carrier• MetaSwitch VP3500 is first listed VoIP Class 5 Switch

• Competitive drivers

Slide 6

COMPETITION IN THE RURAL MARKET

• Broadband VoIP services are bringing competition to rural areas – in many cases for the first time

• Also, cost efficiencies of packet voice (e.g. 802.11 networks) enable much sparser competitive deployments to be profitable

• In response, independent telcos are looking to compete• New business / revenue generating opportunities• New services – video (and VoIP) over DSL, cable, fiber, …• New subscribers out of region – “edge-out” into the RBOC

town next door• Target high-end residential (triple-play) and small businesses

(IP Centrex)

Slide 7

EXISTING GR303-BASED ACCESS NETWORKS

• Traditional Digital Loop Carrier (DLC) terminates POTS and DSL, converts to TDM (T1/3, GR-303)• DLC and DSLAM may be separate or combined

POTS+DSLGR-303

DS1/DS3

Internet

data

TDM MUX

DigitalLoop Carrier

Class 5 Switch

PSTNSS7/TDM

IP Router

DS3/OC3

GR-303DS1/DS3

Slide 8

VOIP AS A REPLACEMENT FOR GR-303

• Broadband Loop Carrier converts POTS to IP• Equipment available today• Requires an IP interface to the switch – ideal solution is a

next generation Class 5 switch with this capability on-board

POTS+DSLVoIP+dataEthernet

Internet

data

VoIP/Ethernet

IP Router

BroadbandLoop Carrier

PSTNSS7/TDM

Next Generation Class 5 Switch

Slide 9

CASE STUDY: NKTELCO – PROFILE

• Small rural-based ILEC/CLEC and cable company; CLEC arm is GoldStar Communications

• Current service offerings include:• POTS• Video and high speed data over the cable network

• Using Next-generation Class 5 Switch to thwart competition and increase revenues with out-of-region expansion

• Service offerings:• VoIP over cable• VoATM over T1 / ADSL• GR-303 for TDM voice

• Combining best use of existing TDM equipment and VoBB with a hybrid MetaSwitch VP3500 to target new services

Slide 10

CASE STUDY: NKTELCO LEGACY NETWORK

PSTN

DLC

GR-303 POTS

MetaSwitch VP3500 Next-GenerationClass 5 Switch

Slide 11

CASE STUDY: NKTELCO VoIP OVER CABLE

PSTN

eMTACMTSGig-E

IP / Cable

MetaSwitch VP3500 Next-GenerationClass 5 Switch

Slide 12

CASE STUDY: NKTELCO VoDSL

PSTN

ATM Switch

DSLAM

OC-3

DSL

T1IAD

IAD

MetaSwitch VP3500 Next-GenerationClass 5 Switch

Slide 13

CASE STUDY: NKTELCO FULL DEPLOYMENT

MetaSwitch VP3500 Next-GenerationClass 5 Switch

PSTN

eMTACMTS

DLC

ATM Switch

DSLAM

IAD

IAD

POTS

IP / Cable

T1

DSL

Slide 14

CASE STUDY: YUKON TELEPHONE PROFILE

• Incumbent telephone provider to rural Alaskan communities of Whittier, Tanana and Ruby• <1,000 subscribers in incumbent area

• Goals• Migration strategy for legacy Class 5 switches• Consolidate switching to one location• Leverage lower costs of IP satellite• Leverage existing DSL and cable TV broadband networks• Use flexibility of IP access to expand service base (e.g. via

satellite and 802.11b wireless networks)

• Using MetaSwitch VP3500 configured for• GR-303 – to interface to existing DLCs• VoIP – for new services and circuit-to-packet migration

Slide 15

CASE STUDY: YUKON TELEPHONE

PSTN SS7TDM

BroadbandLoop Carrier

VoIP (MGCP)

VoIP (SIP/MGCP)HFC Cable, 802.11b, … ATA

GR-303

POTS

POTS

IP Phone

POTSDLC

IP satellite

VP3500 Next GenerationClass 5 Switch

Slide 16

CONCLUSIONS

• The rural market is not a backwater – independent telcos are at the forefront of the VoIP tidal wave• Migration of existing legacy infrastructure• Competition and new services

• Next generation technology is available that fits the rural / independent market space• Circuit-to-packet migration – cost effective VoIP loop

carriers• Class 5 Softswitches with support for required legacy

features and new VoIP services

• … and it’s being deployed!• MetaSwitch >40 deployments, ~50% by independent telcos

Slide 17

THANK YOU!

• For further information:

Bob HarveyRBH@metaswitch.com+1 817 427 0016

www.metaswitch.com