Cox Communications and Nortel outlined plans for evolving Cox’s existing circuit-switched telephony networks to a hybrid TDM/VoIP model. Key points of the plan, which builds on a relationship first announced in 2003, include:
- Cox currently serves 1.2 million residential and 100,000 business telephony lines in 17 markets across the U.S. It first launched local phone service in Orange County, California in 1997.
- Cox is currently using two dozen circuit switches to provide these primary line services.
- Cox is already using VoIP to carry long distance traffic over its national IP backbone and is deploying softswitches in its new VoIP local markets.
- In this recent deal, Cox has agreed to upgrade at least 10 DMSs to the Nortel Communication Server 2000, expecting to bring more than 50% of its new growth lines to VoIP by the end of 2005.
- The PacketCable-compliant Nortel Communication Server 2000 solution, integrated with Nuera Communications BTX Gateways, will enable Cox to offer the same quality telephony services that residential and business customers have come to expect from Cox and will position Cox to add rich multimedia services in the further, enhancing the communication capabilities of these Cox customers.
- There are six steps to the migration — upgrade the circuit switches to the required hardware baseline to support VoIP; upgrade the core software to a VoIP-enable load in an overnight process; add media gateway controller blades, media gateways and other VoIP hardware; establish connectivity to the VoIP-ready IP bearer network; reconfigure operating system applications to support VoIP; complete pre in-service testing.
- Cox believes it is more cost-effective to evolve the majority of its circuit switches to hybrid TDM/VoIP than to overlay new softswitches in the existing TDM markets.
- In June 2004, Cox Communications awarded a multiyear contract to Nuera Communications Inc. to provide media gateways for its nationwide VoIP deployments.
- In May 2004, Nortel Networks agreed to integrate, sell and support VoIP gateways from Nuera Communications as part of an integrated PacketCable qualified solution.