Sonus Networks spreads out
05.25.05 | Doug Mohney
At VON Europe this week, Sonus Networks announced a partnership with Belkin. Anyone notice Sonus has just embarked on expanding their mindshare footprint?
Up until this week, Sonus Networks has quietly labored in the background for a number of different VoIP providers, with its most recent announced customer wins including AOL and XO Communications. The company's Open Services Architecture ™ provides the back-end infrastructure for VoIP call delivery for carriers.
Through the agreement with Belkin, Sonus Networks stays in the infrastructure arena, but will become more visible to consumers. Sonus will conduct interoperability testing and certification of equipment for Belkin's portfolio of broadband phone gear. It will also conduct co-branding with Belkin to provide a "Sonus-Powered" stamp of approval on Belkin gear, so any customer buying a Belkin device with the "Sonus-Powered" logo should be able to hook up that device to any other Sonus-powered network, be it AOL, Qwest, XO, or anyone else, without worrying about compatibility issues. According to Chief Marketing Officer Steve Edwards, a "Sonus-Powered" style logo will start appearing on Belkin IP phone gear.
Needless to say, Belkin won't be the only consumer hardware manufacturer that Sonus is working with, with other announcements anticipated in the months to come. Sonus takes on the role of interoperability certification, rather than vendors having to certify gear from multiple vendors. For all VoIP providers, this provides one less set of headaches.
Consumers stand to gain as well. If Sonus's efforts are successful, it could likely open up the door for "portable" consumer VoIP equipment that could be moved between service providers. Currently, most VoIP providers are subsidizing VoIP gear, but at $40-60 a box, it is an expensive customer acquisition cost in an arena where margins aren't that big to start. Customers could buy the gear they like off-the-shelf and use it with the service provider they want – just like the way it works in the current POTS network. |
