Telefónica O2 Germany, a division of Telefónica S.A. and one of Germany’s largest network operators serving 1.4 million customers, will be using Acme Packet’s session border controllers (SBCs) for its new IMS next generation network.

The new IMS network will converge O2 Germany’s fixed line and mobile networks. It will be built on top of, and will ultimately replace, ­an older VoIP platform and will enable Telefónica O2 Germany to offer converged services to its residential and business customers. It will also enable the carrier to deliver wholesale hosted residential VoIP services—Telefónica Voice4Carrier and Telefónica Voice4SIPOwner—to other service providers.

The carrier will also use Acme Packet’s (News - Alert) SBCs to interconnect, or "peer" with other carriers’ networks.

 

Specifically, Telefónica O2 Germany selected Acme Packet’s Net-Net 4500 Session Director (SD) blades (an integrated SBC with multi-protocol signaling and media control) to meet critical 3GPP IMS functional requirements at the access and interconnect borders of its network.

 

“Acme Packet’s market-leading SBCs, combined with the company’s experience in delivering essential IMS functionality, made them the best choice for us,” said Karsten Schroeder for Telefónica O2 Germany, in a release. “Acme Packet is an integral part of our next-generation network migration, providing the necessary tools to roll out flexible, reliable and scalable IMS-based services to our residential retail and wholesale customers.”

 

At the subscriber access border, the Net-Net 4500 SD integrates the Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF), the initial SIP signaling contact point for subscriber endpoints, and the Access Gateway (News - Alert) Function (AGW) for controlling subscriber media flows.

At the interconnect border to other service provider networks, the Net-Net 4500 SD integrates the Interconnect Border Control Function (I-BCF), the SIP signaling point for sessions leaving or coming into the network, and the Transition Gateway (TrGW) for controlling associated media flows.

Both the access and interconnect SBCs include a signaling firewall, a vital function that protects the SBC itself and core IMS service elements.

These SBCs come integrated with Net-SAFE, Acme Packet’s security framework, which provides denial of service (DoS) attack prevention, topology hiding and access control. What’s more, the Net-Net 4500 SD provides multiple encryption capabilities, including IPsec using IMS-AKA and Transport Layer Security (TLS).

Acme Packet SBCs maximize the service reach of Telefónica O2 Germany using hosted NAT traversal, SIP signaling normalization as well as interworking between its next-generation IMS and older VoIP platforms. The carrier also uses Acme Packet’s flexible session admission control policies to prevent core network overloads and assure customer SLAs.

The Net-Net SD also provides signaling and media replication for lawful intercept, as well as a location server interface to obtain and append location information for emergency calls.

Ericsson (News - Alert) will be providing the IMS core system and VoIP application server for Germany O2’s new network. As per two, three-year contracts valued at around $30 million, Ericsson will provide hardware and software systems integration services. It will also integrate Germany O2's VoIP application server using IMS, making services such as IP Centrex, business trunking or presence functionality available to all fixed and mobile users.

In a release, Andrea Folgueiras, chief technology officer at Telefonica O2 Germany, said: "With IMS, we can advance the conversion of our current systems into more cost-effective and higher performance multimedia networks that can make optimal use of ever-increasing bandwidths. We based our decision to have Ericsson as a partner for IMS on the good experience from our joint projects in Spain and other countries."

Telefónica is one of the largest fixed-line and mobile telecommunications companies in the world: It ranks third in terms of number of clients (with the acquisition of O2 plc., Movistar and Manx Telecom) – and is rivaled only by China Mobile (News - Alert), Vodafone and AT&T.

Acme-Packet is a platinum sponsor of TMC’s (News - Alert) upcoming 4GWE Conference, to be held Sept. 1-3 in Los Angeles.

This special conference – an adjunct to TMC’s Internet Telephony Conference & Expo (ITEXPO) – will feature more than 50 speakers who will educate carriers and wireless industry professionals on the applications, technology alternatives, time frames, opportunities and challenges in the new age of mobile broadband.

Sessions will cover important topics including the role of IMS in the migration to 4G; the mobile operator’s architectural and infrastructure options for delivering applications over a 4G network; how mobile internet devices will enable exciting new 4G applications; and how LTE and WiMAX may co-exist in the 4G world and the differences between these two technologies; how the broadband stimulus package will impact the development of 4G revenue opportunities; how demand for 4G applications will impact carrier’s backhaul requirements; as well as other pertinent topics.