RICHARDSON, Texas -- Taqua, Inc., the leading provider of next-generation Class 5 switching, today announced that its OCX has been selected as a "cap and grow" replacement for a legacy Nortel DMS-10 switch at Michigan-based Carr Telephone. Carr Telephone is a Rural Local Exchange Carrier (RLEC) that serves year-round and seasonal residents and businesses located in the lower peninsula of western Michigan, a popular vacation and resort area. Carr Telephone provides a full array of telephony, Internet and cellular - via of a partnership with ALLTEL - services to its subscriber base. A primary factor in Carr Telephone's decision to cap its legacy DMS-10 was the high cost of upgrading and maintaining the switch. "The cost to upgrade the DMS-10 to CALEA compliancy and to add a GR-303 interface was almost as much as what it would cost to deploy a brand new, next-generation Class 5 switch. As a result, we evaluated several next-generation Class 5 switches and ultimately selected Taqua's OCX," said Mitchell Bogner, general manager, Carr Telephone. "The OCX was the ideal switch to meet Carr's aggressive plan to expand service offerings. We were very impressed with the OCX's full-featured Class and Custom Calling services, small footprint, compelling economics, evolution path to packet-based technologies and Taqua's top-notch customer service and support." Taqua Systems Inc.