IP traffic exchange heading to Germany

Michael Carroll | January 18, 2012

telecomseurope.net

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Germany’s first next-generation voice over IP (VoIP) traffic exchange is in the pipeline, following a deal between IP interconnection firm XConnect and global Internet exchange DE-CIX.

The pair has agreed an exclusive partnership to create a secure federation hub and central carrier telephone number mapping (ENUM)-based routing and management platform for the market. Services will be targeted at fixed, mobile, ASP and Web 2.0 operators, offering end-to-end connectivity on an all-IP basis.

“Our partnership will, for the first time, enable operators in Germany to launch IP voice and new multimedia services on a cross-network basis, which the legacy PSTN infrastructure cannot support. This will bring new revenue opportunities, as well as cost savings, to all operators,” XConnect chief Eli Katz notes.

The firms claim that interconnecting via the hub will cut the technical complexity, commercial and operational costs of NGN interconnection. That, in turn, will fuel a migration from bilateral, TDM-based, interconnects to IP.

DE-CIX chief Harald Summa says the cost of interconnecting networks is a key concern for service providers, and the deal will enable his firm to deliver cost-efficient “VoIP and next generation network peering, as well as interconnection services.”

The planned ENUM registry is another first for Germany, centralizing number management and portability, and improving the discovery and routing of ENUM-based numbers.

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Michael Carroll