Bresnan Picks MetaSwitch VOIP

Bresnan Communications has chosen Metaswitch Networks 's softswitch, media gateway, and application server products to aid in the MSO's rollout of business telephony services.

The two companies said that Bresnan, a mid-sized cable operator, is already deploying MetaSwitch's equipment in preparation for the rollout. The MSO, which serves roughly 300,000 cable subscribers in Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and Coloado, plans to launch commercial phone service widely throughout its four-state area sometime early next year.

MetaSwitch and Bresnan also said the vendor's technology will enable the cable operator to deliver a wide range of services to small-and-mid-sized firms, including Centrex, digital PBX trunks, and traditional phone services. That represents a shift for MetaSwitch, which had been focusing on residential phone applications in competition with such larger players as Nortel Networks Ltd. and Siemens AG (NYSE: SI; Frankfurt: SIE).

"The reason we're focusing now on business services is because that's where the next business opportunity is for a lot of MSOs," says Andy Randall, VP of marketing for MetaSwitch, which is teaming up with Cisco to sell its products. "That's where we can differentiate."

MetaSwitch isn't alone, though. Other VOIP gear suppliers are also expanding their focus to the commercial market as such large MSOs as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, and Charter Communications are either introducing or gearing up to launch business-class voice services.

At the recent Business Services Symposium in Chicago sponsored by the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, for instance, a dozen equipment suppliers filled the small exhibit hall with products. In their displays, many of the vendors focused on commercial phone services.

"There's really an untapped need out there," Randall says. "There is a gap in the market."

— Alan Breznick, Site Editor, Cable Digital News