Big players muscle in on softswitches

The top tier of telecoms suppliers is dominating the development and deployment of softswitch systems worldwide, according to analyst IDC.

The analyst said softswitches, which integrate IP and traditional telephony, will be the centerpiece of next-generation networks.

But industry giants have been able to take over the sector as the global telecoms downturn rationalised the market, cutting the number of start-ups and smaller companies that had previously been developing softswitch technology.

In its study, entitled Worldwide Softswitch Forecast and Analysis, 2002 - 2007, the market researcher found that several more prominent start-ups and smaller vendors have survived the lean environment of the last few years.

These include companies such as Sonus, Telica and Tekelec in the carrier gateway switch segment and Broadsoft, Sylantro and VocalData, which provide SIP-based voice application servers.

"Because of economic distress, consolidation, and need for tactical migration, both large suppliers and carriers are now driving this market and are in a position to control the pace of development and deployment with respect to infrastructure conversion," said Tom Valovic, director of IDC's IP telephony programme.

Not all of the large telecom suppliers are equally committed to the new technology. Some major vendors have temporarily retrenched and slowed down their approach to this market.