Cisco announces comprehensive voice solutions in India

NEW DELHI: Cisco Systems Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the

Internet, has announced the availability of comprehensive voice solutions that

will enable service providers to take advantage of the deregulation in the

Indian telecom sector. Deregulation of the national long distance (NLD) and

international long distance (ILD) services in India in April 2002 provides an

opportunity for service providers to enter the high-growth long distance market

using voice-over-IP.

Indian cellular market is expected to be the world's fastest growing with

about 30 million cellular users by 2005, according to Gartner Research. Fixed

lines are expected to grow to about 80 million by 2005. The growth in subscriber

base, the competition resulting from deregulation and legalisation of

IP-telephony (International PC-to-phone calls) is expected to drive ILD minutes

beyond 4 billion in 2002.

The services enabled by Cisco voice solutions include:



International long distance, national long distance, PC-to-phone calling, local
services for enterprises, pre-paid / post-paid calling, unified communications

and voice mail.

Cisco offers end-to-end solutions for voice-over-IP. The solution portfolio

comprises of AS5000 universal gateways that bridge the PSTN and IP networks,

signaling and call control products such as the Cisco PGW 2200 and the Cisco BTS

10200 softswitch, call routing products such as the H.323 Gatekeeper and the

Cisco SIP Proxy Server, Cisco IP Phones and Cisco ATA 186 Analog Telephone

Adaptor. The Cisco AS5000 universal gateways support all popular IP signaling

and call control protocols - H.323v3, SIP, and MGCP - providing customers with

the maximum flexibility in choosing an architecture of their preference, in

keeping with their business needs.

The Cisco universal gateways - AS5350, AS5400, and AS5850, Cisco PGW 2200,

Cisco BTS 10200, Cisco H.323 Gatekeepers, Cisco SIP Proxy Server, Cisco IP

Phones and Cisco ATA 186 Analog Telephone Adaptor are available and shipping

today.