First Communications Completes MetaSwitch Deployment

Midwest CLEC First Communications announced it has deployed MetaSwitch for its IP-based switching infrastructure, which will support delivery of voice and data services over in-building power lines to multitenant buildings and apartments. The Value and terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The new services, known as FirstSpeed BPL, use broadband over power lines (BPL) technology to leverage existing electrical infrastructure to distribute high-speed connectivity – up to 20mbps -- throughout a building.

As part of this rollout, First Communications has decommissioned several large-scale Nortel DMS500 switches in order to move to new distributed softswitch configuration featuring two redundant CA9000 softswitches and several MG3510 media gateways from MetaSwitch. Each media gateway serves 100,000 subscribers, according to Andrew Randall, vice president of marketing at MetaSwitch.

“One of the unusual things about this deployment is they have pulled out the old switches,” said Randall. “Most service providers take a more gradual approach.”

Randall adds that MetaSwitch also provided professional services to First Communications in support of the customer migration, which took place earlier this fall.

First Communications serves more than 130,000 business and residential customers across the United States with the majority located in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois.

MetaSwitch www.metaswitch.com  

First Communications www.firstcomm.com

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