Telecom New Zealand International Announces Successful Completion of GSMA IPX Trial

Telecom New Zealand International (TNZI) announced today that it has successfully completed the GSM Association (GSMA) Phase 2 IPX trials for telephony services interworking and IP performance testing within a global multi-operator test community.

TNZI is a global provider of international TDM and IP voice, video telephony, business and private broadband, and roaming enablement services to mobile and fixed service providers

The IPX is modeled on the successful GSMA-defined GRX, and is compatible with IMS service fulfillment concepts. The IPX extends the GRX construct to include service awareness with specified QoS for different services, cascading payments, security, and openness. This allows all telecommunications operators, including both GSM and CDMA mobile service providers, fixed network providers, and internet service providers, to be part of the IPX community.

Strong international partnering relationships were key to the success of the services interworking portion of the trial that interconnected Telecom New Zealand’s mobile network via an international IPX network to other mobile service providers, including Telekom Austria’s international IPX network connected to Hutchison 3G in Austria, and Multiregional Transit Telecom (MTT) connected to CJSC NCC in Russia.

"We are an integrated IPX provider with established competencies in mobile solutions and share the same outlook as TNZI with regards to the relevance of the IPX to the mobile and fixed network operator community”, said Josef Trimmel, Head of Wholesale, Telekom Austria TA AG. "Specifically, we feel there will be high demand to interconnect the IPX to non-IPX networks, which we are going to supply within the CEE region and beyond. The close collaboration with TNZI on the GSMA SIP-I trial has given us valuable insight and confidence that SIP-I can be successfully used for that kind of interworking”.

In addition to establishing relationships with other service providers, TNZI leveraged its long standing relationships with its next generation infrastructure vendors – Acme Packet and Veraz Networks – for the build out of a dedicated trial network specifically for the IPX trials. TNZI’s experience with these vendors’ technologies and the long standing relationship with these companies have allowed TNZI to quickly deploy and test relevant IPX capability within the TNZI Next Generation Network.

"We have been working with TNZI to enable VoIP interconnect services since 2005”, said Seamus Hourihan, Vice President Marketing and Product Management, Acme Packet, "and our joint effort in successfully completing the GSMA IPX trial is the latest example of our strong relationship. Acme Packet and TNZI will continue to work together to meet the GSMA requirements for interoperability, security and quality controls that are paramount to making IPX interconnection services successful”.

"Veraz is very pleased to extend our strong relationship with TNZI on next generation network evolution by demonstrating IPX”, said Dawn Hogh, Veraz VP of Marketing. "TNZI is recognised as a global leader in offering innovative network interconnect solutions. IPX is a natural next step as the framework for globally interconnecting mobile and fixed operators’ services over an IP-based architecture”.

Throughout the trial, TNZI was at the forefront in driving requirements for a measurements and reporting system to help service providers with service level management. Additionally, through extensive testing, beyond the scope of the trial, TNZI was able to validate IP performance benchmarks for its own network as set in the GSMA IR.34 document.

As a result of leveraging existing relationships and building new international relationships - a cornerstone for its successes to date - TNZI demonstrated that its core network and business practices are in line with the IPX framework and that there is value, specifically in service quality, security, and efficiencies, in the GSMA-defined IPX.

About Telecom New Zealand International

Telecom New Zealand International (TNZI) is a division of the Telecom Corporation of New Zealand. TNZI provides the full range of telecommunications services to retail and wholesale customers including data, voice, and mobile services. TNZI specialises in international wholesale voice and communications services providing cost effective quality solutions for delivery of voice and data across the globe. TNZI is a leading provider of international managed services in Australia and New Zealand, TNZI has an established direct network to reputable carriers around the world, offering access to a portfolio of communications solutions, each assuring quality, reach and reliability to business customers in the global wholesale market. To learn more about TNZI www.tnzi.com