Sonus Networks Inc., providing network transformation
through IP communications technology, and CenturyLink today announced the successful completion of phase one
implementation of CenturyLink’s IP voice infrastructure. This migration
brings traffic from CenturyLink’s voice network into one secure,
cost-effective, easy to manage IP network.
"We are bringing together significant volumes of TDM
or traditionally switched and IP traffic
from two large networks," said Matt Beal, chief technology officer at
CenturyLink. "We had to accomplish this with no service disruption to
the seven million voice lines we support. I am extremely pleased with
the quality, reliability and speed of this deployment. We expect to
achieve cost savings and efficiency gains from our new IP core network
as well as from the ability to centrally manage our voice traffic across
our fiber backbone. It will also enable us to provide more advanced
services to meet our customers’ future needs."
The network, built in fewer than four months, includes the
deployment of Sonus Networks media gateways, policy management and
session border control solutions in 22 cities across the United States.
It enables CenturyLink to leverage its extensive fiber backbone to
incorporate both legacy TDM and IP voice traffic on the same
infrastructure. This allows for significant cost saving and provides
centralized management of the IP voice traffic. A key part of the new
network is the addition of a Sonus Network Border Switch for secure
IP-peering, session control and media management. The Sonus Network
Border Switch provides CenturyLink with a more secure and cost effective
means of interconnecting with other service providers. The platform
also offers CenturyLink the opportunity to add future services including
media transcoding.
"Having supported the core of some of the world’s busiest VoIP
networks for many years, Sonus is a logical supplier of infrastructure
equipment for CenturyLink’s ambitious network integration project,"
commented Joe McGarvey, at Current Analysis. "The requirement for
carriers to manage a mix of TDM and IP voice traffic, interconnections
with adjacent networks and a variety of protocols and codecs, will
persist for years to come and points to a need for media gateways
fortified with session border control capabilities."
"CenturyLink has very demanding standards for its voice
network. I am pleased that the Sonus Global Services team worked
seamlessly with the team at CenturyLink to meet the aggressive
deployment schedule successfully," commented Mohammed Shanableh, vice
president, worldwide sales for Sonus Networks. "This Sonus deployment
will enable CenturyLink to grow their network to meet the needs of its
expanding customer base."
In this project CenturyLink, working with Sonus Global
Services has deployed the Sonus GSX9000 Media Gateway, the Sonus
PSX Call Routing and Policy Server, the Sonus Insight Element
Management System and the Sonus Network Border Switch for
enhanced border security and advanced IP peering capabilities.
