US : Tekelec announced tier-one mobile operators in North America and Asia are deploying the Tekelec 8000 Wireless Multimedia Gateway (MG) with UMTS capabilities.

These customers will leverage Tekelec's product architecture and flexibility to increase network capacity while seamlessly migrating to (3G) networks.

The Tekelec 8000 is based on 3rd Generation Partnership Program (3GPP) Release 4 standards for Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), UMTS and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks. In addition to supporting GSM to UMTS migration, the Tekelec 8000 can seamlessly evolve into next-generation, Internet protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architecture.

The Tekelec 8000 is a highly scaleable and reliable wireless solution, which can handle traffic in a time division multiplexing (TDM), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and/or IP environment with an integrated session border controller, eliminating any migration impact on the end customer. In addition, Tekelec 8000's open interface allows it to work with other MSC (Mobile Switching Center) servers in the operators' networks. Operators will benefit from highly flexible architecture that simplifies the number of network elements required for building a 3G-core network, resulting in significantly reduced capital and operating costs.

According to Jean-Charles Doineau, telecoms technology consulting practice leader of Ovum, "The wireless media gateway market will benefit from the renewal trend from MSCs to MSC servers in advanced network operators all over the world. The wireless media gateway market will be growing by at least 15 percent on a yearly basis, benefiting from this trend."

Fred Lax, Tekelec president and CEO, added, "Tekelec's switching products are leading the industry in laying the foundation for next-generation migration and powering the world's largest mobile networks. "The success of our WMG in North America and Asia positions Tekelec very well to pursue significant opportunities in Europe and Latin America, where operators also are migrating to UMTS."

About Tekelec 8000 Wireless MG

The Tekelec 8000 Wireless MG is a media gateway created to address the most stringent networking requirements for flexibility and adaptability to work with existing or new network build-outs. With its combination of switching and adaptation functions, the gateway supports any combination of TDM, ATM, and IP traffic, any port, any service, and any signaling. The Tekelec 8000 offers 40 high-density card slots. While each service interface card offers a wealth of switching and adaptation functionality, additional functions and capacity can be added on-line. Designed around a robust architecture with no single point of failure, the Tekelec 8000 can be independently engineered in combinations from one to 64 nodes per switching system. Any combination of these components can be placed within a centralized or distributed architecture.

The Tekelec 8000 series significantly improves quality of service because it is an integral part of routed IP networks. Unlike typical media gateways, the 8000 series has the built-in intelligence to recognize network failures and compute new routes for in-progress calls--ensuring that the calls are maintained. Furthermore, it provides virtual media gateway functionality for geographical redundancy in case of catastrophic outages at the call control layer (a 3GPP requirement).