Level 3 Communications, Bellcore Announce Merger of Protocol Specifications for Voice Over IP Companies See Rapid Adoption, Deployment of Protocol Standard for Next <>
November 17, 1998
OMAHA, Neb., and MORRISTOWN, N.J., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT) and Bellcore today announced the merger of their respective technical specifications for a new protocol designed to bridge between current circuit-based public switched telephone networks (PSTN) and emerging Internet Protocol (IP) technology based networks.
The merged specification, to be called the Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), represents a combination of the Internet Protocol Device Control (IPDC) specification developed by a consortium formed by Level 3 and made up of leading communications hardware and software companies, and the Simple Gateway Control Protocol (SGCP), developed by Bellcore and Cisco Systems. The MGCP specification is available without a fee to service providers and hardware and software vendors interested in implementing it in their networks and equipment.
The Best of Newer IP Networks & the PSTN
The significance of MGCP is that it can provide customers with the best of both the traditional PSTN and the newer IP technology networks. To do this, a new set of standards is needed that will allow the seamless integration of these two types of networks. Such integration will enable customers to benefit from the lower cost of IP network services, including voice and fax, without modifying existing telephone and fax equipment or dialing access codes. Level 3 plans to use MGCP in the development of its own network and envisions many next-generation IP telephony service providers will soon require this functionality in their own networks.
"Our goal is to use standards-based hardware and software to accelerate the integration of the PSTN with IP-based networks such as ours," said Isaac Elliott, senior director of voice network engineering for Level 3 Communications and chair of the Technical Advisory Council (TAC) that developed IPDC. "Merging these two similar specifications provides a focal point for the rapid adoption of a protocol standard by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)."
MGCP Defined
MGCP enables external control and management of data communications equipment operating at the edge of emerging multi-service packet networks -- known as "media gateways" -- by software programs, which are known as " call agents" or "media gateway controllers." Examples of media gateway devices include voice over IP gateways, voice over ATM gateways, modem banks, cable modems and set-top boxes, soft PBXs, and circuit cross connects.
"The industry was faced with either picking one protocol or implementing both," said Christian Huitema, chief scientist, Internet architecture laboratory at Bellcore. "By merging the two proposals, we resolve the dilemma, provide a safer environment for the manufacture of telephony gateways, and ensure the development of the call agent architecture."
A draft of the MGCP specification was recently submitted to the SS7-Internet mailing list of the IETF as well as the European Telecommunications Standards Institute Telecommunications & Internet Protocol Harmonization Over Networks (ETSI TIPHON) working group for review and modification.
The MGCP specification draft is available on both the Level 3 Communications Web site at l3.com and the Bellcore Web site at bellcore.com.
About Level 3 Communications, Inc.
Level 3 Communications, Inc., is a communications and information services company that is building the first international network optimized for Internet Protocol technology. The Level 3 Network will combine both local and long distance networks, connecting customers end-to-end across the U.S. and in Europe and Asia. The company expects to complete the U.S. intercity portion of the network during the first quarter of 2001. In the interim, Level 3 has signed an agreement to lease a national network over which it began to offer services in the third quarter of 1998. Level 3 will provide a full range of communications services-including local, long distance, international and Internet services. Level 3's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol LVLT. Its World Wide Web address is www.Level3.com.
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