Ethernet and VOIP equipment vendor BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (London: BVC) saw its valuation rise by 14 percent today following news of a major deal for its T6Pro family of ATCA-based Ethernet switches. (See BATM Wins Mystery 'Major Contract'.)

BATM, best known for its telecom business Telco Systems (BATM), announced a major supply deal with "one of the world’s leading telecom suppliers," though it didn't name the company. "The new contract will greatly strengthen our strategic ties with an extremely important customer," the company added in its official release.

BATM CEO Dr. Zvi Marom says he can't reveal the company, but notes that it isn't Alcatel (NYSE: ALA; Paris: CGEP:PA). He says it's another existing partner that will supply the Telco Systems ATCA-based T6Pro Ethernet aggregation switch to its IP customers. (See Telco Systems Hops ATCA Hurdle and AdvancedTCA .)

BATM's other major OEM partner is Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), while it also has significant relationships with Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERICY) and IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM).

Marom adds that Telco Systems is also developing a new line of processors with Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM) that will give his firm's technology an edge over its rivals in the multiservice provisioning platform sector. (See Insider Surveys Micro MSPPs.)

Whichever major vendor is giving the Israeli company a leg-up into a major carrier account, BATM believes the resulting sales will significantly boost its revenues, with Dr. Marom quoted in the firm's press release as saying the deal is "potentially, by far, the largest in the history of the company."

The company believes this new engagement will "have a substantial impact on sales" once "full-scale deployment commences." That impact could run to "several tens of millions of US dollars and in excess of $10 million annually," states BATM.

That's substantial for BATM, which generated revenues of $41.2 million in 2004, and which is on course to hit annual revenues of about $55 million in 2005.

The news pumped up BATM's share price on the London Stock Exchange: By mid-afternoon it was up by 4 pence, nearly 14 percent, at 33 pence.

That's more than double the 16 pence the stock was trading at in mid-May this year. Dr. Marom says boosting the share price is not what today's news is about, though. "This is just the beginning" of something bigger, he boasts.

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading