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Leap Selects Tekelec's Switching to Power its VoIP and Data Network
TMCnet Contributing Editor
Tekelec announced on Tuesday that Leap Wireless International Inc. will deploy the Tekelec (News - Alert) 9000 Distributed Switching system to support the company's VoIP and data network and Cricket service across its 39-market, 19-state operating territory.
Leap's Cricket service provides plans for a flat monthly rate that offer unlimited calling and features with no annual contract requirement. Leap will be deploying its own Tekelec 9000 backbone network comprised of multiple distributed Tekelec 8000 Wireless Multimedia Gateways and centralized Tekelec 3000 Media Gateway Controllers.
"We have a sophisticated and growing subscriber base with very unique need, more than half of Cricket customers rely solely on us for their home phone service and, as a result, use more than double the industry average minutes per month," said Glenn Umetsu, EVP and chief technology officer in a statement. "We investigated several vendor solutions, and Tekelec's next-generation switching portfolio exceeded our technical requirements while delivering significant cost savings, which further improves our leadership position on cost."
Leap first deployed Tekelec EAGLE 5 Integrated Signaling System (ISS) platforms in its network back in 2001. That is why the company decided to expand its relationship with Tekelec. The Tekelec 9000 system will be fully deployed on Leap's network by the end of this year, with plans to deploy additional products in 2007.
"Leap's decision to deploy our next-generation switching solutions for its Cricket service at the core of its network demonstrates the unmatched quality, reliability and cost savings Tekelec delivers to our customers," said Rick Mace, executive vice president, Global Business Group Operations at Tekelec. "This nationwide network deployment shows the full power and flexibility of our market-leading solution to meet any deployment scenario."
Tekelec has been scoring deals left and right since the beginning of the year. Just last month the company announced that seven Iowa-based independent operating companies (IOCs) selected the Tekelec 7000 Class 5 Packet Switch and Tekelec 6000 VoIP Application Server to replace their legacy switches and deliver advanced session initiation protocol (SIP)-based services and applications. According to the company's news release, the contracts will involve the deployment of 12 Tekelec 7000 and multiple Tekelec 6000 systems and will be worth several million dollars.
Six of the operators own the Northern Iowa Communications Partnership (NICP), Ayrshire Farmers Mutual Telephone Company, Northwest Telephone Cooperative Association, Palmer Mutual Telephone Company, River Valley Telecommunications Cooperative, Royal Telephone Company and Terril Telephone Cooperative. These companies have previously deployed Tekelec 7000 and Tekelec 6000 systems. The seventh operator, Farmers Mutual Telephone Company of Stanton, Iowa, is a new customer, purchasing both Tekelec 7000 and Tekelec 6000 systems for its network.
Tekelec
Leap Wireless International, Inc.
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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and Internet Telephony magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit Johanne Torres' columnist page.
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