TELUS Builds IP Next-Generation Network Cloud Services Using Cisco Unified Service Delivery Technology

Cisco announced that TELUS is enhancing its service delivery network using Cisco Unified Service Delivery. The solution combines the power of the data center with the power of the network to transform service delivery and build a foundation for cloud services.

This deployment is central to TELUS' primary goal of further expanding delivery of best-in-class managed services and delivering a comprehensive range of world-class, innovative data and communications services.

As customer demand for advanced managed services increases along with a growing interest in flexible cloud-based services, TELUS has been building its national infrastructure to enable expansion of its managed services to meet the evolving needs of enterprise and small-business customers. To deliver quality solutions, TELUS has extended its investment in the Cisco Nexus 2000, Cisco Nexus 5000 and Cisco Nexus 7000 switching platforms in data center facilities across Canada.

TELUS chose the Cisco Nexus platform for its ability to combine Ethernet, Internet Protocol (IP) and storage capabilities across one unified network fabric. The platform is an essential part of Unified Service Delivery, a solution that not only unifies data center resources but enables peering and interconnecting between data centers. These capabilities facilitate service integration, flexibility and agility in delivering entertainment, information and communication-based services.

The Cisco Nexus family of switches helps customers reduce total cost of ownership, accelerate business growth and extend the life cycle of current infrastructure by making the data center more efficient, responsive and resilient.

TELUS is taking advantage of the reliability, scalability and flexibility of Cisco Unified Service Delivery to offer a range of cloud-based infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) managed services. TELUS Managed IT solutions provide customers with the flexibility to out-task IT systems management according to their particular business requirements – from provisioning servers for customer-facing websites to offering fully out-tasked customized solutions, including end-to-end management of networks, desktops, servers and storage. For more information, click here.

Cisco Announces Agreement to Acquire Starent Networks

Cisco and Starent Networks announced a definitive agreement for Cisco to acquire Starent Networks. Starent Networks is a leading supplier of IP-based mobile infrastructure solutions targeting mobile and converged carriers. The Mobile Internet is at an inflection point as IP-enabled Smartphones and other connected mobile devices gain rapid acceptance. Service Providers have been actively investing in this market as global mobile data traffic is expected to more than double every year through 2013, according to the Cisco Visual Networking Index.

Starent Networks' mobile infrastructure solutions play an important role in enabling Service Providers to scale their mobile infrastructure and monetize their investments via differentiated experiences. The company provides the multimedia intelligence, core network functions and services to manage access from any 2.5G, 3G, and 4G radio network to a mobile operator's packet core network. Starent Networks' access-independent technology is deployed in CDMA2000 (1X, EV-DO), UMTS/HSPA and WiMax networks.

Prior to the close, Cisco and Starent Networks will continue to operate as separate companies. Upon completion of the transaction, Starent Networks will become the new Mobile Internet Technology Group.

Cisco Helps Assure Internet's Future Amid Device Growth

Cisco announced significant enhancements to its Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture that are designed to secure the foundation of the Internet, which must accommodate the exponential increase of connected devices for highly secure, efficient video delivery and collaboration. With the new Cisco Carrier-Grade IP Version 6 (IPv6) solution, Cisco helps enable service providers to effectively deal with the bottleneck created by the imminent depletion of IPv4 addresses. This new solution complements Cisco's IPv6 portfolio, the widest and most extensive in the market.

Now spanning from the core of the network to the home, Cisco's IPv6 capabilities have been expanded and added to a wide range of the company's routers and switches. Cisco is introducing new carrier-grade IPv6 capabilities to the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System for the network core and to the Cisco Aggregation Services Routers for the network edge. These new additions provide a cost-effective and efficient means to bridge to a full IPv6 next-generation network while extending the life of existing IPv4 addresses to smoothly manage that migration.

Highlights / Key Facts:

•An IP address is required for each device that connects to the Internet, and IPv6 is designated as the successor to IPv4, the first implementation used in the Internet and still the most widely used today.
•Exhaustion of IPv4 addresses is predicted for sometime in 2011, according to various sources, including potaroo.net, a Web site that tracks IPv4 address allocation by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. IPv4 has a finite set of unique addresses, numbering approximately 4 billion, which is rapidly depleting due to the ever-growing number of Internet-connected devices and smart devices.
•The industry foresaw this and developed IPv6, which has 340 undecillion unique addresses (3.4 x 10(38)), or more than 50 billion billion billion for each person on earth, more than enough to continue to support the demand for IP addresses. However, the protocols of IPv4 and IPv6 are not directly compatible, so migrating a network from IPv4 to IPv6 requires technology solutions to preserve IPv4 while executing a carefully orchestrated, step-by-step implementation plan.
•New Cisco IPv6 offerings, which expand on the existing Cisco IPv6 portfolio, are designed to address the current gap that service providers face in their IPv6 network evolution.

For the full press release, click here.

Tata Teleservices Expands Telcordia Relationship to Provide Real-Time Charging on its GSM Network

When Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), India's fastest growing pan-India dual-technology telecom service provider, was looking to launch its GSM-based prepaid service offerings in the rapidly growing Indian market, it selected Telcordia, a leading global provider of communications network software and services for IP, wireline, wireless and cable. Just a few months later, the Telcordia solution was implemented, enabling TTSL to launch its innovative and exciting prepaid offerings on its new GSM Network.

Presently, Tata Teleservices relies on Telcordia® Real-Time Charging to deliver a highly scalable, reliable and cost-effective real-time charging solution for its nearly 40 million CDMA subscribers.

India is experiencing an unprecedented rate of subscriber growth, especially in the prepaid market, and the challenge for communications service providers (CSPs) is to attract new subscribers, retaining existing ones and increasing service use to boost revenue. As such, there is a greater need for CSPs to differentiate their service offerings by providing relevant, interactive and personalized services. Telcordia Real-Time Charging makes it easy to create and deploy customer-specific rules for rating, discounting and promotions, and enables CSPs to differentiate their service offerings and personalize the telecom experience for its customers.

For more information about Telcordia's presence in India, click here.