Communications Crossroads - Fall 2007 - (Page 21)

line. It refers to a technology that makes the increasingly popular VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service work properly. Acme Packet, based near Boston, bills itself as “the leader in session border control solutions.” Its NetNet session border controllers “route data between networks, enabling Verizon customers to talk securely with customers of AT&T Inc., for example, via the Internet,” as the Boston Globe put it earlier this year. Why mention an American company in an article about foreign telecoms? Because more and more American customers will be seeking reliable VoIP service in the coming years, and their Internet service providers will want to be ready with the equipment and technology to make it all work. Customers are attracted to the convenience, the cost and, to some extent, the novelty. European customers are somewhat ahead of Americans in their demand for this service. Thus, Europe is charging full-steam ahead with this technology. In mid June, Acme announced deals with six new companies—all of them incumbent and competitive operators—in Ireland, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany and Portugal. Acme now has a foothold in 77 countries. Rural Broadband Efforts Working to get broadband to rural customers? Well, that’s also a major undertaking for NTT. The Japanese giant is deploying ﬁber to rural Japan. The carrier set an aggressive path in 2004, saying it would spend more than $1 billion to boost its optic ﬁber service and add millions of more customers. The company’s research-anddevelopment arm has reported that the number of FTTH (ﬁber to the home) subscribers has surpassed the number of ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) subscribers. “Over these last few years, after focusing simply on technologies for achieving cost-efﬁcient optical communications, we have been working to develop technologies for providing responsive, diversiﬁed, and advanced optical services to respond effectively to nextgeneration needs and the demand for easier-to-use products,” said Hiromichi Shinohara, director of the NTT Access Network Service Systems Laboratories, in a posting on the company’s Web page. 329242_gps.inddFall 2007 COMMUNICATIONS CROSSROADS 9:51:59 AM 1 7/24/07 21

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Communications Crossroads - Fall 2007

Up Front Contents TeleBites Cover Story: The World at Your Doorstep Business Advantages: Reaching Out to the Fast-Growing Hispanic Market Technology Today: Ideas from Foreign Telecoms You Should Consider Industry Calendar Index to Advertisers People Straight Talk

Communications Crossroads - Fall 2007

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