Cox deploys Nortel, Nuera on backbone

Cox Communications announced today that it has begun deploying Nortel Networks’ Succession switches and Nuera Communications’ media gateways as part of a planned migration of its long-distance telephone traffic to a packet-based infrastructure.

The deployment, which is the first packet trunking deployment by a cable operator in North America, will eventually encompass all of Cox’s 750,000 voice customers. So far, the cable operator has deployed the new switches and gateways in three regional networks. Cox also uses 18 Nortel DMS switches as part of its circuit-switched telephony deployment.

In the packet deployment, Cox is using the Succession Communication Server 2000 as a superclass softswitch. The Nuera ORCA GX-21 and GX-8 carrier-class VoIP media gateways are used to link between circuit switches and the packet environment.

Cox’s deployment could provide a roadmap for some of the other cable operators with circuit switches services already in the market. Among the largest is Comcast, which has more than 1 million voice customers as part of its acquisition of AT&T Broadband.

“They need to have a softswitch that is capable of delivering all the long-distance services,” Elaine Smiles, director of cable marketing for Nortel said of the Cox network. “It’s more than a packet network with gateways.”

Cox’s decision to push all long-distance traffic over its own backbone not only will give the company all of the long-distance revenue, it eventually will add up to millions in savings, according to Cox estimates. Previously, the company resold long distance service from various other carriers.