Yak turns to cost-effective next-gen switch

The Canadian subsidiary of Yak Communications has purchased and begun to implement Tekelec’s SanteraOne next-generation switch to serve its residential and business local and long-distance customers.

Yak will begin transitioning customers to the 40,000-port switch in November and is expecting an operational cost savings of 70% by replacing four legacy switches.

“The SanteraOne switch supports [time-division-multiplexing] as well as packet capabilities, so users don’t have to enable packet [switching] immediately,” said a spokesman for Tekelec.

Yak CEO Charles Zwebner said in a statement that the switch would allow his company to evolve along with voice-over-IP technologies.

The new switch also gives Yak the capability of offering broadband telephony and consolidated billing. It also supports Wi-Fi access.

Tekelec also announced this week its expansion into Russia by opening an office in Moscow. Tekelec named sales and marketing executive Cory Grant to oversee the Russian operations. He will act as regional vice president for Eastern Europe. The company has named Daniil Osipov as the lead sales engineer to provide technical support in the region. Osipov has held positions with Huawei and the Leningrad R&D Institute of Telecommunication.

“The Russians don’t want to buy old gear, they want new technology,” the spokesman said.