Arelnet to Supply Sweden’s Skanova With VoIP Network

YAVNE, Israel — VoIP telephony systems provider Arelnet has announced an agreement with Skanova, the Swedish independent wholesale network provider Skanova, to supply Voice over Internet Protocol infrastructure platforms for the first phase of the Swedish national VoIP network.

The value of the sale was not specified, however, the deal marks the first phase of multi-million dollar network that will be Europe’s largest VoIP network, according to the companies.

Arelnet was chosen in an international competition following testing and interoperability operations with other vendors.

Under the multi-phase contract, Arelnet will supply the national Skanova network with VoIP backbone core infrastructure equipment including Trunking Gateways, SS7 Signaling Interface Units, Gatekeepers, Network Management Servers, and Terminal Adaptors for voice and data at customer premises. The intended network will be a Class 5 replacement solution, intended to provide VoIP over broadband to the home.

Skanova is an independent wholesale network provider within the Telia group of companies. Skanova operates Sweden’s largest telecom and data network, and offers its customers full network access, services and support. The company has 2,700 employees, and an estimated turnover in its first year of operations of SEK 22 billion (approximately $1.98 billion).

Arelnet was founded in 1996 by Arel Communications & Software and Elron. Arelnet is a publicly company traded company on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

In January 1998, Arelnet and Nortel officially entered into a strategic alliance naming Nortel worldwide distributor of Arelnet’s products. In August 1999, Arelnet signed a strategic and partnership agreement with Keppel T&T of Singapore appointing Keppel T&T distributor of the Far East. Current majority Arelnet shareholders are; Arel, Nortel, Elron, Keppel T&T and Poalim Communications.

Arelnet is based in Israel with offices in Hong Kong, the United States and Hong Kong.