Acme Wins Euro SBC DealsAcme Wins Euro SBC Deals

BURLINGTON, Mass. -- Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT), the leader in session border control solutions, today announced that Telefónica O2 Germany has selected Acme Packet’s session border controllers (SBCs) to provide key IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) functionality at its access and interconnect borders. The Acme Packet Net-Net® Session Director (SD) enables Telefónica O2 Germany to deploy a secure and interoperable IMS network supporting residential retail and wholesale VoIP services and IP interconnects with other service providers.

Directly, and through its wholesale partners, Telefónica O2 Germany currently provides fixed telephony and DSL services to approximately 1.4 million customers. The Net-Net SBCs are part of an IMS next-generation network that will replace an older VoIP platform and enable Telefónica O2 Germany to offer VoIP services to its residential customers and wholesale hosted residential VoIP services—Telefónica Voice4Carrier and Telefónica Voice4SIPOwner—to other service providers. Telefónica O2 Germany also uses the Net-Net SBCs to securely interconnect with other tier 1 service providers for off-net call origination and termination.

Telefónica O2 Germany selected Acme Packet’s Net-Net 4500 SD to meet critical 3GPP IMS functional requirements at the access and interconnect borders of its network. At the subscriber access border, the Net-Net 4500 SD integrates the Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF), the initial SIP signaling contact point for subscriber endpoints, and the Access Gateway Function (AGW) for controlling subscriber media flows. At the interconnect border to other service provider networks, the Net-Net 4500 SD integrates the Interconnect Border Control Function (I-BCF), the SIP signaling point for sessions leaving or coming into the network, and the Transition Gateway (TrGW) for controlling associated media flows. Both the access and interconnect SBCs include a Signaling Firewall, a vital function that protects the SBC itself and core IMS service elements, which is missing from the IMS architecture.

Net-SAFE®, Acme Packet’s security framework, provides denial of service (DoS) attack prevention, topology hiding and access control to protect Telefónica O2 Germany’s IMS network and ensure service availability. In addition, the Net-Net 4500 SD also provides multiple encryption capabilities, including IPsec using IMS-AKA and Transport Layer Security (TLS), for secured sessions between subscriber endpoints and Telefónica O2 Germany’s IMS services network. Acme Packet SBCs maximize the service reach of Telefónica O2 Germany using hosted NAT traversal, SIP signaling normalization as well as interworking between its next-generation IMS and older VoIP platforms. Telefónica O2 Germany uses Acme Packet’s flexible session admission control policies to prevent core network overloads and assure customer SLAs. To help ensure regulatory compliance, the Net-Net SD provides signaling and media replication for lawful intercept and a location server interface to obtain and append location information for emergency calls.

“Acme Packet’s market-leading SBCs, combined with the company’s experience in delivering essential IMS functionality, made them the best choice for us,” commented Karsten Schroeder for Telefónica O2 Germany. “Acme Packet is an integral part of our next-generation network migration, providing the necessary tools to roll out flexible, reliable and scalable IMS-based services to our residential retail and wholesale customers.”

“Acme Packet is helping service providers around the world solve critical challenges in delivering seamless, high-quality, interactive communication services with IMS networks,” said Seamus Hourihan, vice president of marketing and product management for Acme Packet. “With Acme Packet session border controllers, Telefónica O2 Germany is able to protect its IMS network while maximizing its service reach and quality for its customers.”

In a separate release:

Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT - News), the leader in session border control solutions, today announced that Telenor Sweden, the second-largest service provider in Sweden, has chosen Acme Packet’s session border controllers (SBCs) to control the access and IP interconnect borders to its IMS data centers. Currently Telenor Sweden offers hosted business unified communications using its IMS service infrastructure.

Telenor Sweden has deployed Acme Packet’s Net-Net 4000 series of SBCs to deliver new IMS-based, multimedia services for its business customers. These services include mobile, unified communications with easy-to-use social-networking tools, such as presence, messaging, chat, video, incoming call management, file sharing and corporate directory. Acme Packet SBCs also enable Telenor Sweden to provide secure, reliable IP-to-IP network connections to other service provider networks.

Acme Packet Net-Net SBCs are proven interoperable with most major vendors’ IMS core infrastructure equipment, such as S/I-CSCF and application servers, enabling Telenor Sweden to easily accommodate new endpoints and changing IMS elements, as well as the evolving state of IMS standards. Redundancy for Telenor Sweden’s IMS service infrastructure is ensured through the use of the Net-Net SBC’s load balancing, routing and disaster recovery functions. Acme Packet’s Net-SAFE® capabilities secures Telenor Sweden’s IMS service elements by performing access control, topology hiding and denial of service (DoS/DDoS) protection from malicious attacks and non-malicious overloads. The session admission control function of the Net-Net SBCs ensures high-quality services, assuring SLAs for its business customers.

“The world’s incumbent service providers, such as Telenor Sweden, are turning to Acme Packet to control access to their IMS service infrastructure,” said Seamus Hourihan, vice president of marketing and product management for Acme Packet. “Acme Packet Net-Net SBCs provide critical access and interconnect border functions—securing service elements, maximizing service reach and assuring SLAs—that enable service providers to deliver IMS-based services to business and residential customers.”

Acme Packet Inc. (Nasdaq: APKT)

Telefónica O2 Germany GmbH & Co. OHG

Telenor Group (Nasdaq: TELN)