And now for a not so nice one from NN's backyard. Is this technology NN doesn't have?
Monday October 26, 9:03 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Groupe Videotron Selects Cisco to
Build New World Communication
Infrastructure
Cisco Teams with Bellcore to Deliver Packet-Based, Integrated Data,
Telephone and Cable Service
MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 1998--Le Groupe Videotron Ltee, Canada's
second largest cable television company, announced today that it has selected announced today that
it has selected Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO - news) to provide a New World, packet-based
cable infrastructure.
Cisco is teaming with Bellcore to deliver a complete end-to-end solution that will enable Groupe
Videotron to provide advanced data, voice and video services over a single network across the
province of Quebec.
With the new Cisco solution, Groupe Videotron's customers will obtain all their communications
services from one provider. Groupe Videotron's new Internet Protocol-based services will allow
customers to have simultaneous telephone, high-speed Internet access, and cable TV service all over
a single coaxial cable, without compromising quality on any of the individual services.
The telephone service includes local service, access to long distance and value-added telephony
services such as call waiting, call forwarding and caller ID, and will benefit from the carrier-class
voice quality that Cisco's solutions deliver. This complements Groupe Videotron's
industry-recognized, high-quality cable and Internet access services.
New digital entertainment services will also be delivered, allowing Groupe Videotron to offer unique
packages of bundled services to customers across the Province of Quebec. With the Cisco solution,
Groupe Videotron will be the first cable operator to move toward providing New World public
communications services by building an IP packet-based multiservice network which exploits the
inherent advantages of the broadband cable network.
''Cisco technologies integrate extremely well with our existing infrastructure and allow us to bring
Internet Protocol data, voice and cable services to new, growing markets,'' said Claude Chagnon,
president and chief executive officer of Videotron Communications Inc.
''With the Cisco solution, we will be able to provide our customers with reliable, secure telephony
services, high speed Internet access, high-quality cable services and new emerging applications using
the Internet Protocol. We are pleased to work with Cisco and Bellcore, world leaders in their
respective fields, as well as with other major players on the information systems side, to build the
integrated infrastructure that will deliver a bundled offer of entertainment and communication
services.''
''By teaming with Groupe Videotron, we are changing the way people work, live, play and learn,''
said Kevin Kennedy, senior vice president for the Service Provider Line of Business, Cisco
Systems, Inc. ''People throughout Quebec will enjoy the convenience of a single, reliable, and fast
multiservice communications pipeline to connect their homes to the outside world.''
Groupe Videotron will deploy the service by utilizing the capabilities of its existing cable
infrastructure. Groupe Videotron's existing broadband transmission infrastructure is capable of
sending data to residential users at speeds of up to 38 Mbps using Cisco's commercially available
technology. This speed is hundreds of times faster than dial access technologies offered by traditional
telephone networks.
Cisco and Bellcore are teaming to deliver the end-to-end solution to Groupe Videotron. Cisco is
providing overall program management, the IP backbone, IP telephony gateways, multiservice cable
transport and the network design. The solution includes Cisco's broadband headend, the Cisco
uBR7246 Universal Broadband Router, Cisco AS5300 voice-over-IP gateway servers and Cisco's
suite of multigigabit, carrier-class IP backbone solutions based on the Cisco 12000 Gigabit Switch
Router (GSR).
Bellcore is providing three main components: call agent software, Operations Support Systems
(OSSs), and professional services. Bellcore's call agent software provides a broad array of
functionality including acting like a local office virtual switch, providing intelligent call control features
and end-to-end signaling for IP telephony gateways. The call agent software runs on a distributed IP
backbone, is highly scalable and capitalizes on Bellcore's deep knowledge of telecom service
requirements.
The call agent software provides full SS7 connectivity allowing service providers, like Groupe
Videotron, to connect with existing Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) service control
points (SCP) and SS7 trunks. Bellcore's solution will provide critical telephony features, such as
E-911, 411, local number portability (LNP), toll-free service and operator service capabilities, in
addition to other value added services.
The Bellcore OSS component of the solution incorporates products from Bellcore's industry leading
MediaVantage(TM) product line and will support Groupe Videotron's IP billing, provisioning and
activation services. Bellcore's consulting services will include systems engineering, network
integration and testing and system integration services.
''Networks are moving to packet technology,'' said Stephen Chappell, corporate vice president at
Bellcore. ''Bellcore has led the industry in delivering 'carrier-grade' OSS and network software for
the PSTN. We intend to continue that leadership role in this new environment and are excited to
support Groupe Videotron's efforts at providing bundled services to its customers.
''Cisco and Bellcore's solution is fully interoperable with the Public Switched Telephone Network
(PSTN) using PSTN trunking and signaling standards, and is compliant with Bellcore/Cisco's Simple
Gateway Control Protocol (SGCP) supported by CableLab's Packetcable(TM) committee.
''The system that Groupe Videotron is deploying is consistent with our vision of what the
PacketCable(TM) specification is going to be. These kinds of deployments are critical to the success
of the eventual specification and the widespread availability of these services in the cable industry,''
said Richard Green, President and CEO of CableLabs, a research and development consortium of
cable television system operators representing the continents of North America and South America.
The multiservice capabilities will be delivered through the Cisco end-to-end solution based on the
industry-wide Data-Over-Cable System Interface Specification (DOCSIS) ITU J.112 standard.
The solution includes a suite of retail-targeted modems produced by global consumer electronics
leaders. Cisco technologies enable broadband operators to smoothly migrate to Multimedia Cable
Network System (MCNS)-based two-way systems without having to interrupt a subscriber's
service or replace existing equipment.
The Groupe Videotron service is scheduled to go into household trials in mid-1999 and is scheduled
for commercial availability later in 1999 throughout Groupe Videotron's current service area in the
Province of Quebec.
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