i3 pushes into VoIP

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—i3 micro this week expanded on the functionality of its existing Vood residential gateway line by launching an integrated access device that provides layer 3 Network Address Transversal routing with an ADSL modem, and a residential gateway that includes the same features for Ethernet.

Additionally, the company announced that it has signed a deal with existing supplier Texas Instruments for plans to work on future VoIP products and advanced media set-top boxes. The new products will integrate TI’s DSL chip sets with the Vood line. The first products are expected to ship in Q3 2004.

The Ethernet version of the IAD 400 series will be targeted at existing residential broadband users while the 200 series will focus on fiber-to-the-home networks. Both will be distributed through i3’s existing relationships with carriers.

"It’s very important that the operator have control of the CPE," said Peter Galyas, product marketing manager of IP telephony for i3. "If you look at the kinds of service people want, they’re going to require some control over the quality of service."

The 422 and 423 version of the IAD are the first i3 products to use TI’s AR7 DSL router chip and provide two lines for analog phones, one Ethernet interface and a USB port. i3 has had perhaps its biggest success in Asia and Europe but it’s starting to put more emphasis on the U.S. over the past couple of quarters, said Jan Werne, who was appointed president in February.

"The market really changed in Q4 of 2003," he said. "At that point, [VoIP] started to reach critical mass."