Tellabs unveils softswitch control suite

Tellabs, Inc. announced today the release of its Salix 7600 softswitch control suite, which the company said would increase its carrier customers’ revenues by enabling fast-delivery, low-cost network development.

Using the control suite, carriers can integrate traditional voice networks into a broadband environment that supports enhanced voice, local, long-distance, multimedia and wireless services.

"The Salix 7600 suite brings together voice and data technologies to create a set of telepacket service applications that can help carriers grow profitability," said Brian Jackman, president of Global Systems and Technology at Tellabs.

The softswitch control suite offers three applications that Tellabs said would improve performance by: removing modem traffic from congested voice networks; integrating voice and data in a transport network by replacing circuit tandem switches with packet-based switches; and providing an alternative to public network services.

Tellabs also announced Monday that it will purchase voice and data modem company Future Networks for $181 million in cash. According to J. Thomas Gruenwald, vice president and general manager of Tellabs’ broadband access division, the deal will allow the delivery of data and voice over cable television lines.

"The addition of Future Networks vaults Tellabs into the leading position to deliver to customers a best-in-class, end-to-end solution for data and voice service over cable and a seamless migration path for existing customers," Gruenwald said.

Tellabs expects the merger with the Alpharetta, Ga.-based Future Networks to close next month. The acquisition will bring 50 new employees, mostly engineers, to Tellabs’ staff.