MONTREAL, Québec. -- October 26, 1998 -- Le Groupe Vidéotron Ltie, Canada's second largest cable television company, announced today that it has selected Cisco Systems to provide a New World, packet-based cable infrastructure. Cisco is teaming with Bellcore to deliver a complete end-to-end solution that will enable Groupe Vidéotron to provide advanced data, voice and video services over a single network across the province of Québec.
With the new Cisco solution, Groupe Vidéotron's customers will obtain all their communications services from one provider. Groupe Vidéotron's new Internet Protocol-based services will allow customers to have simultaneous telephone, high-speed Internet access, and cable TV service all over a single coaxial cable, without compromising quality on any of the individual services. The telephone service includes local service, access to long distance and value-added telephony services such as call waiting, call forwarding and caller ID, and will benefit from the carrier-class voice quality that Cisco's solutions deliver. This complements Groupe Vidéotron's industry-recognized, high-quality cable and Internet access services. New digital entertainment services will also be delivered, allowing Groupe Vidéotron to offer unique packages of bundled services to customers across the Province of Québec. With the Cisco solution, Groupe Vidéotron will be the first cable operator to move toward providing New World public communications services by building an IP packet-based multiservice network which exploits the inherent advantages of the broadband cable network.
"Cisco technologies integrate extremely well with our existing infrastructure and allow us to bring Internet Protocol data, voice and cable services to new, growing markets," said Claude Chagnon, president and chief executive officer of Vidéotron Communications Inc. "With the Cisco solution, we will be able to provide our customers with reliable, secure telephony services, high speed Internet access, high-quality cable services and new emerging applications using the Internet Protocol. We are pleased to work with Cisco and Bellcore, world leaders in their respective fields, as well as with other major players on the information systems side, to build the integrated infrastructure that will deliver a bundled offer of entertainment and communication services."
"By teaming with Groupe Vidéotron, we are changing the way people work, live, play and learn," said Kevin Kennedy, senior vice president for the Service Provider Line of Business, Cisco Systems, Inc. "People throughout Québec will enjoy the convenience of a single, reliable, and fast multiservice communications pipeline to connect their homes to the outside world."
Groupe Vidéotron will deploy the service by utilizing the capabilities of its existing cable infrastructure. Groupe Vidéotron's existing broadband transmission infrastructure is capable of sending data to residential users at speeds of up to 38 Mbps using Cisco's commercially available technology. This speed is hundreds of times faster than dial access technologies offered by traditional telephone networks.
Cisco and Bellcore are teaming to deliver the end-to-end solution to Groupe Vidéotron. Cisco is providing overall program management, the IP backbone, IP telephony gateways, multiservice cable transport and the network design. The solution includes Cisco's broadband headend, the Cisco uBR7246 Universal Broadband Router, Cisco AS5300 voice-over-IP gateway servers and Cisco's suite of multigigabit, carrier-class IP backbone solutions based on the Cisco 12000 Gigabit Switch Router (GSR).
Bellcore is providing three main components: call agent software, Operations Support Systems (OSSs), and professional services. Bellcore's call agent software provides a broad array of functionality including acting like a local office virtual switch, providing intelligent call control features and end-to-end signaling for IP telephony gateways. The call agent software runs on a distributed IP backbone, is highly scalable and capitalizes on Bellcore's deep knowledge of telecom service requirements. The call agent software provides full SS7 connectivity allowing service providers, like Groupe Vidéotron, to connect with existing Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) service control points (SCP) and SS7 trunks. Bellcore's solution will provide critical telephony features, such as E-911, 411, local number portability (LNP), toll-free service and operator service capabilities, in addition to other value added services.
The Bellcore OSS component of the solution incorporates products from Bellcore's industry leading MediaVantage. product line and will support Groupe Vidéotron's IP billing, provisioning and activation services. Bellcore's consulting services will include systems engineering, network integration and testing and system integration services.
"Networks are moving to packet technology," said Stephen Chappell, corporate vice president at Bellcore. "Bellcore has led the industry in delivering "carrier-grade" OSS and network software for the PSTN. We intend to continue that leadership role in this new environment and are excited to support Groupe Vidéotron's efforts at providing bundled services to its customers. Cisco and Bellcore's solution is fully interoperable with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) using PSTN trunking and signaling standards, and is compliant with Bellcore/Cisco's Simple Gateway Control Protocol (SGCP) supported by CableLab's Packetcable. committee.
"The system that Groupe Vidéotron is deploying is consistent with our vision of what the PacketCable. specification is going to be. These kinds of deployments are critical to the success of the eventual specification and the widespread availability of these services in the cable industry, " said Richard Green, President and CEO of CableLabs, a research and development consortium of cable television system operators representing the continents of North America and South America.
The multiservice capabilities will be delivered through the Cisco end-to-end solution based on the industry-wide Data-Over-Cable System Interface Specification (DOCSIS) ITU J.112 standard. The solution includes a suite of retail-targeted modems produced by global consumer electronics leaders. Cisco technologies enable broadband operators to smoothly migrate to Multimedia Cable Network System (MCNS)-based two-way systems without having to interrupt a subscriber's service or replace existing equipment.
The Groupe Vidéotron service is scheduled to go into household trials in mid-1999 and is scheduled for commercial availability later in 1999 throughout Groupe Vidéotron's current service area in the Province of Québec.
About Bellcore
Bellcore, a SAIC company, is a leading provider of communications software, engineering, consulting and training services based on world class research. Bellcore creates business solutions that make technology work for telecommunications carriers, businesses, and governments worldwide.About Le Groupe Vidéotron Ltie
In operation for more than 34 years, Le Groupe Vidéotron Ltie (Montrial, Toronto, VDO) is an international communications company. Its subsidiaries in Canada offer services in cable television, telecommunications, broadcasting, remote surveillance and interactive multimedia development. Its Canadian cable subsidiary is the second largest cable operator in Canada serving some 1.6 million subscribers. In the Province of Québec, Groupe Vidéotron has a critical mass of contiguous cable television licenses unique in North America, including Montreal and Quebec City, the two largest metropolitan areas. In the United States, Groupe Vidéotron owns a private cable television and telephone company, as well as a broadband wireless high speed Internet connectivity service provider. Groupe Vidéotron is a leader in information highway development as a result of its experience in multimedia development and in integrated cable television and telephony in the United States and United Kingdom. It employs over 5,000 people.Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is theworldwide leader in networking for the Internet.Cisco, Cisco IOS, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S., Canada and other countries. MediaVantage is a trademark of Bellcore. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
