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1st June 2005:
Demon
The
future’s bright the future’s MPLS
THUS plc continues to
experience strong demand for its MPLS IP VPN services, bringing new solutions
to market over the coming year
THUS plc today announced future plans for
its Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based IP VPN services that provide UK
organisations with a flexible, secure and cost-effective platform for wide area
voice and data communications. As one of the first UK telecoms operators to use
state-of-the-art MPLS to converge its customers’ voice and data traffic
over a single network, THUS is taking a number steps to cement its reputation
for innovation in the industry and will be rolling out a number of new
solutions over the next year.
Customer demand for richer IP services
over a converged network grew significantly in 2004, and one solution THUS
plans to rollout is IP Centrex for voice communications. IP Centrex will allow
businesses to carry simultaneous voice streams across a single IP access
facility - meaning that when calls are not being made, more bandwidth is
available over the LAN for high speed data traffic, and capacity is used more
efficiently. THUS also hopes to deploy its Internet Telephony Exchange Line
services in 2005, a replacement for ISDN 30, which will enable businesses
deploying VoIP to achieve further cost savings in addition to those already
experienced when using VoIP.
Another service implemented by THUS in 2004
which will be used to full effect by July 2005 is Softswitch. THUS installed
Nortel‘s softswitch technology across its core MPLS network to handle the
swell in demand for IP services and enable further convergence of voice, data
and Internet traffic. Softswitch technology increases the voice capacity of
THUS’s network and offers scalability, as well as allowing THUS to deliver
further value-added services such as enhanced multi-media solutions.
Sandra O’Boyle, senior analyst at Current Analysis, commented:
“THUS’s MPLS IP VPN product poses a threat to the competition for
several reasons. One is that the network supports six classes of service with
separate SLAs on each class, and another is that THUS plans to launch a managed
IP Centrex service later this year. As well as a comprehensive network service,
THUS has a strong reputation for quality, service innovation and reliability
and that’s important to prospective customers.”
Part of
THUS’s broader strategy is to strengthen its managed solutions offering
– which the Softswitch implementation allows – as well as continue
its development of innovative services well into the future. As THUS’s
MPLS network continues to evolve, its QoS offering and overall performance will
also be enhanced. The latest upgrade to the network has already increased the
reliability and performance of MPLS to a degree that it has allowed THUS to
migrate its own voice traffic onto the network. This upgrade has also made
THUS’s MPLS network accessible for all technologies so that businesses can
connect to it via leased lines, DSL and Ethernet, as well as allow TDM
(time-division multiplexing) circuit switched services, such as PSDN (packet
switched data network) voice, to be replaced through migration onto
IP.
Phil Male, Chief Operating Officer at THUS plc, explained: “We
successfully completed the build of our state-of-the-art MPLS network in 2002
and since then, we've been delivering innovative and ground breaking converged
solutions to companies throughout the UK such as GWR Group. The further
evolution of the network and the introduction of Softswitch technology ensures
that we can continue our leadership in service innovation well into the future,
including advanced technologies such as VoIP and more advanced voice
applications.”
THUS has relied on MPLS technology for its own
operations since 1999 and had extensive experience in this technology when it
became part of its product portfolio in October 2003. THUS’s MPLS IP VPN
simplifies the management of network traffic and offers its customers business
grade Quality of Service (QoS) depending on the profile of the network traffic.
With MPLS, businesses can satisfy their connectivity and usage needs through
several converged IP-based data, voice and video services. MPLS is inherently
secure and does not require firewall protection or encryption. The solution
provides a single powerful network in which businesses with multiple site
locations, spread over a wide geographic area and with high performance
networks, can run demanding applications such as IP telephony as well as
everyday e-business applications like email and file transfer to corporate
information access.
[Demon broadband]
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