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Interview: Khalid AtharGENBAND is the market leader inIP Interconnect solutions with majordeployments globally, especially in EMEAMehmet N. Balos, Executive Vice President GENBANDspeaks to Teletimes InternationalTeletimes - Please tell us aboutGENBAND, its products andservices.Mehmet Balos - Over thepast seven years, GENBANDhas transformed its productportfolio, customer profile,geographic footprint andfinancial performance throughstrategic partnerships withleading equipment supplierssuch as Alcatel-Lucent, NokiaSiemens Networks and NEC, aswell as acquisitions of Tekelec’sIP switching division, NextPointNetworks and most recentlyCedar Point Communications.But the company’s boldestmove, the acquisition of Nortel’sCarrier IP Switching division,not only changed GENBANDbut also changed the globaltelecom landscape. GENBANDbecame the engine behindmany of the largest communicationsnetworks in the world.By acquiring Nortel CVAS andimmediately integrating itsproductsin to its portfolio, GEN-BAND preserved many years ofrespected research and developmentand provided continuityfor an enormous installed base,enabling their carrier customersto cost effectively continuegrowth and delivery of servicesto global customer bases.In 2010, GENBAND revenuesgrew more than 275% overthe previous year and becamethe market-share leader of a$2.5 Billion industry. Today,GENBAND enables Voice overIP through the no. 1 call routingsoft switch; empowers operatorsthrough advanced IP businessenterprise and residentialcommunications applications;connects and secures IP networksthrough advanced sessionborder control (SBC) solutionsand enhances businessintelligence, traffic managementand security protection throughdeep packet inspection (DPI)technologies.As the no. 1 market shareleader in fixed lineswitching and mediagateways, GENBANDhas sustained thismarket position formore than 7 yearsthrough a comprehensiveIP Infrastructureportfolio thatdelivers rich solutionsto address transport, controland application layersof the network.With global head quarters inthe Dallas metro area of Texas,GENBAND employs 3,000 fulltimeemployees and contractorsglobally and enjoys a vastglobal services organizationwith over 50 operational locationssupporting customers inover 80 countries.Throughout Asia, the MiddleEast and Africa, GENBANDserves a wide array of operatorswith employees based in Singapore,Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing,Shanghai, Taiwan, Korea,Australia, New Zealand, India,Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Israel andSouth Africa.TT - What are the recent transformationsat the core networkside of fixed line networks?MB - The dominant trend atthe core network side of fixedline networks has been, and"Whatis uniqueabout the GENBANDapproach is that we workwith operators as a "trustedadvisor", meaning that wedon't try to force them todeploy something theydon't reallyneed."continues to be the transformationfrom TDM to IP. In theearly years, this was primarilyfocused on flattening and costreducing hierarchical tandemnetworks. In recent years, thishas evolved to the transformationof Class 5 networks as ameans of eliminating all legacyTDM core equipment, which israpidly reaching its "end of life".At the same time, this transformationis addressing newservice opportunities madeavailable by IP for business andconsumers including messaging,video, unified communications,mobility and more. The finalelement in core transformationaddresses IP interconnectof these rich services betweencarriers and to business. This isaddressed by IPX and SIP BusinessTrunking respectively.TT - How do you see theMiddle East region withregards to these transformations?MB - Most majorservice providers havealready begun fixedline transformationto NGN. In fact, manyhave started doing thisas far as 3-4 years ago,especially ones who havefairly large installed TDMbase. This is encouragingfor a company like GENBANDbecause it shows that the MEregion understands the businesscase behind TDM transformationand is willing to invest.We are still seeing pockets ofopportunities for GENBANDwith operators who have notstarted doing so, and evenwith ones who have alreadystarted but finding it difficultto migrate with 100% featuretransparency from TDM to26 www.teletimesinternational.comDecember 2011