BOSTON (05/23/2000) - Nortel Networks Corp. this week announced a high-density dial platform for modem wholesaling.
Nortel's CVX 1800 multiservice access switch can terminate 10,752 simultaneous subscriber calls per rack. The CVX 1800 dynamically recognizes incoming data, voice-over-IP and fax-over-IP calls, so that any of these services is supported on any port, Nortel says.
The CVX 1800 supports 2,688 ports per shelf, equivalent to the capacity of four T-3 or 112 T-1 lines. With four shelves stacked into a 7-foot rack, the configuration delivers 10,752 ports, Nortel says.
Each CVX shelf also contains 168 hot-swappable modems.
Citing published reports, Nortel estimates that 50 percent of all enterprises and service providers outsource all or part of their dial-access ports to wholesalers. Wholesalers, meanwhile, are expanding their infrastructure with access switches that offer additional IP services, such as voice over IP, virtual private networks and support for increasing numbers of Internet users, Nortel says.
While broadband access technologies such as cable and digital subscriber lines are expected to eat into the dial market, Nortel says 95 percent of the current Internet access market is dial, and dial will continue to remain strong for the next 4 or 5 years.
The CVX 1800 will compete with Cisco Systems Inc.'s AS5300 and AS5800 platforms, and Lucent Technologies Inc.'s MAX products. It will be available in the third quarter of 2000. Pricing will range from $200 to $300 per port, depending on configuration.