BayPackets Helps Global Crossing Switch to VoIP

BayPackets said Global Crossing will use its network services platform as the carrier upgrades from circuit switched to Voice over Internet protocol network. Financial terms for the deal announced Monday were not disclosed.

The Fremont, Calif., company’s Agility product will enable Global Crossing’s enterprise customers to control service access and third-party billing.

“The platform not only runs in IP networks but in legacy networks as well,” Amol Joshi, BayPackets’ vice president of marketing, told internetnews.com.

Interoperability is key in pitching the product, Joshi said. While new service providers build an IP network from scratch, established players must advance in phases, so support for old and new technologies is a must.

BayPackets, which counts Deutsche Telecom , among others as customers, is seeing increased requests for proposals from carriers that are studying how to move to VoIP. Interest is especially high in Asia-Pacific where the cost-saving service bypasses high local phone rates.

U.S. carriers are also jumping into VoIP. Last week Verizon announced a major investment in the technology and AT&T, Qwest and Time Warner Cable are all pursuing rollouts.

Bryan Michael, a BayPackets’ spokesman, said the company has two sets of competitors.

The first is equipment makers such as Nortel and Alcatel . BayPackets argues that its open standards software is more attractive than its rival’s proprietary offerings.

The privately held firm, which has received investments from telecom equipment giant Lucent and chipmaking leader Intel , also competes with startups including Broadsoft and Ubiquity, which aim their software at new IP networks.

Global Crossing has been testing BayPackets platform for months and has been pleased with the result. The Florham Park, N.J.-based international carrier has been rebuilding its business after weathering a storm of public and legal scrutiny that led to its near collapse, bankruptcy, and eventual court-ordered restructuring. Now, the company’s core network connects more than 200 cities and 27 countries, and delivers services to more than 500 major cities, 50 countries and 5 continents.

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