Network management Toolkit

UK VoIP firm lands major deal

Graeme Wearden ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 24 Sep 2004 12:30 BST

Newport Networks, the British voice over IP (VoIP) equipment maker which floated on the stock market earlier this year, has won significant support from Marconi that could give it a profitable toehold in a major upgrading of the UK's telecommunication infrastructure.

Marconi announced on Thursday that it will use Newport's Session Border Controller (SBC) as part of its SoftSwitch platform, which lets telcos support Internet telephony across their networks.

The deal could prove extremely profitable to Newport because BT is currently trialling the Marconi SoftSwitch product as part of an ambitious multi-billion-pound project to upgrade its network to IP.

This 21st Century Network project will be worth billions of pounds to the IT and telecommunications, with BT expected to commit most of its £3bn annual budget for capital expenditure between 2004 and 2009 to it.

Sir Terry Matthews, co-founder of Newport Networks and the technology entrepreneur who became Wales' first billionaire, wouldn't be drawn on Newport's chances of cashing in on the 21st Century Network project but indicated that the deal with Marconi was a landmark for the company.

"I'm pleased that BT has committed itself to a timeline for its move to an all-IP network, making it the first such telco to do so, and I'm pleased BT is testing Marconi's SoftSwitch system. Newport's deal with Marconi bodes well for us," Sir Terry told ZDNet UK.

Did you find this article useful?
74 out of 118 people found this useful

More In Network management

Company/Topic Alerts

Create a new alert from the list below:

Related Jobs

VBA,Excel Developer needed to join Front Office Trading Team in LDN

Front office environment working in a team that deal and trades across all asset classes within Capital Markets. Exotics VBA, EXCEL, C++ Developer ...

UNIX Systems Administrator / Trading Floor Support Banking Sector - London

For further details please view our website at www.net2s.co.uk Company: NET2S is a leading international consultancy specialising in capital markets ...

Bank seeks senior J2EE developer FX Credit Trading Role

Their London offices are based in the City and have been steadily expanding over the recent months due to capital growth overseas. With market and ...

Featured Talkback

Could it be that ISP’s are making this out to be a bigger problem than it actually is? We’re a small country with an internet penetration of less than 60%, for every Youtuber there’s someone who only uses the internet to check their emails, more people surf on their mobile handsets than a few years ago. Surely things should even themselves up.