LAS VEGAS--MetaSwitch announced both a new product and a new customer. CTC Communications, a competitive service provider based in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, will use MetaSwitch’s distributed softswitch to offer hosted business services, the two companies announced today.

One of the products CTC will use is the new MetaSwitch 2510 product family, including the VP2510 integrated softswitch, MG2510 media gateway and SG2510 signaling gateway. The smaller form factor, T-1 based system is aimed at large networks that are widely distributed, such as a regional CLEC, said Andy Randall, vice president of marketing for MetaSwitch.

“The driver is to push TDM out as far as possible,” he said. “Carriers don’t want to do TDM backhaul, and IP trunking of TDM doesn’t always work well. The smaller form factor system can be distributed so the service provider can deliver IP or POTS or TDM to the customer, but be IP in the network.”

CTC is a significant customer for MetaSwitch because of its size, and its track record in VoIP, Randall added.

“They are an acquisitive company--they are growing by acquisition and are the largest CLEC in the Northeast,” he said. “CTC was also one of the first to deploy softswitches using the Telcordia product. They have been around the block, and they know what they are looking for.”

The new MetaSwitch 2510 can be deployed as a fully integrated softswitch or as a media gateway or signaling gateway and can be deployed in one mode and migrate to another, as needed.

“It’s a great platform for independents because it is T-1 based and a smaller form factor,” Randall said. “It’s a very price-competitive market out there right now, and we think this competes well.”

The MG2510 and SG2510 are IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) compliant and meet the media and signaling gateway functions of the IMS architecture, along with Metaswitch's CA9020 Call Agent, using the H.248 protocol as defined by IMS.