MetaSwitch continues to expand its footprint among U.S. regional operators, with more than 20 new customers signed in the last quarter alone, bringing its total incumbent local exchange carrier customer base to over 200. These carriers are successfully deploying MetaSwitch solutions to migrate legacy voice infrastructures to more cost-effective, IP-enabled networks and provide competitive, next-generation subscriber services, a process the company expects to accelerate further as Broadband Stimulus funds drive the deployment of packet networks.

The new customers consist of leading edge ILECs including Telephone Electronics Corporation based in Jackson, Miss.; Rural Telephone located in northwest Kansas; and Ben Lomand Telephone Cooperative, serving multiple counties in Tennessee. These ILECs are among the growing number of service providers choosing to work with MetaSwitch to address today's most pressing challenges, such as improving overall network management and bandwidth efficiency while increasing revenue-generating opportunities.

TEC manages a network of about 10 subsidiaries in areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, serving nearly 50,000 subscribers and is now one of the largest independent operating carriers in the region. TEC is in the process of rolling out MetaSphere Unified Messaging, which it will provide as TEC Track and TEC Message, enabling residential customers to manage home phone, cell phone, e-mail and voicemail through CommPortal, a Web-based portal. TEC plans to rollout similar integrated messaging functionality to business customers in the coming months.

Rural Telephone needed to consolidate its switching capacity, create geographic redundancy and create an IP-access network. Rural Telephone selected a total MetaSwitch solution for its core network as well as to deliver a wide range of VoIP, legacy TDM and next-generation telephony services. Rural Telephone will split the MetaSwitch call agents to provide services across two towns to 41 exchanges, with a phased migration that has been underway for the last year and should be completed by February 2010.

Ben Lomand Telephone Cooperative opted to migrate from its Nortel legacy network to support growth and expansion plans. Ben Lomand Telephone Cooperative is replacing its Nortel DMS100 with a more cost-effective MetaSwitch-based solution to cover more than 42,000 access lines.