Indonesian Network Migrates to IP Based Signalling

Indonesia's Excelcom has completed the deployment of an Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled signaling endpoint designed to enable it to meet the demands of a growing subscriber base for mobile data applications. Using the Cisco IP Transfer Point as a signaling gateway between the traditional Signaling System 7 (SS7) wireless network and IP-enabled signaling endpoints, Excelcom is taking advantage of the reliability and cost-efficiency of IP networks while building a foundation for 3G wireless network services.

"We have experienced incredible growth in our subscriber base since we started operations in 1995. With a user base projected to grow from 1.8 million today to well over 5 million in 3 years, we were looking for a solution that enables us to expand our network capacity as demand grows as well as roll out new services. IP is clearly the way to go and Cisco had a solution that met our requirements," said Werner Noz, director, Network Operation of Excelcom.

Irfan Setiaputra, managing director, Indonesia, Cisco Systems, said, "Excelcom has demonstrated great vision in integrating IP with its mobile network and joins an elite group of mobile operators around the world. Traditional TDM-based SS7 networks are struggling to cope with an application as simple as the short message service, and the intensive data and video requirements of 3G services are even more difficult. With our expertise in enabling our customers to build resilient IP networks, Cisco is in a good position to help operators build the next generation of IP-enabled mobile networks."

The Cisco IP Transfer Point is a comprehensive solution for transporting SS7 traffic over legacy time-division multiplexing (TDM) networks or next-generation SS7-over-IP (SS7oIP) networks. Because the Cisco IP Transfer Point products contain the complete feature set found in legacy signaling transfer points (STPs), they effectively replace STPs in a TDM network. In an SS7oIP mode, using Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Signaling Transport Protocol (SIGTRAN) industry standards, the Cisco IP Transfer products connect to legacy SS7 nodes and/or IP-enabled signaling nodes, and offload this traffic to IP networks, which reduces strain to the legacy network."

Posted to the site on 24th April 2003