Austin, Texas – General Bandwidth, a leading telecommunications equipment manufacturer enabling carriers to deliver next generation voice services over broadband networks, announces the availability of enhanced packet voice capabilities on its G6 ® Packet Telephony Migration Platform that redefines the traditional 24 line T1 technology barrier. Focal Communications, a leading national telecommunications carrier offering integrated voice and data services, is deploying the G6 platform to launch an enhanced Integrated Voice and Data (IVAD ™ ) service that delivers up to 32 voice channels while allowing up to 1.5 Mbps of data over a single T1 access line.

“Customer demand for a higher value T1 service is very strong and Focal's IVAD service hits at the heart of efficiency and flexibility for our customers,” says Mark Dehmlow, Marketing Director at Focal Communications. “With General Bandwidth's help, we have smashed through the T1 line barrier to provide our customers with the best value in integrated voice and data services, and have raised the bar for other service providers.”

T1 access lines are the most widely used telecom services for businesses and have become the stalwart revenue producer for voice and data service providers. However, most metropolitan markets are saturated with carriers whose T1 service offerings are undifferentiated. This has resulted in high rates of customer churn, caused precipitous T1 price erosion, and made the marketplace ripe for carriers who are able to provide a new and improved T1 service.

Leading carriers, such as Focal Communications, are turning to the General Bandwidth G6 platform to offer a truly converged voice and data service offering. The General Bandwidth platform allows Focal Communications to provide unmatched voice channel density and data bandwidth without a corresponding increase in network facilities, delivering more voice and data service at less overall cost to Focal customers.

The G6 Packet Telephony Migration Platform, with its support for Voice over IP and Voice over ATM networks, delivers high quality, full-featured voice services over a wide variety of packet architectures, including T1, DSL, hybrid fiber coax (HFC), and fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP). With the capability to simultaneously support voice services from existing Class 5 switches as well as next generation packet switches, the G6 platform is a highly scalable, fully redundant, and very flexible service migration platform from which new voice and media features can be deployed.

About Focal Communications
Focal Communications Corporation is a national telecommunications provider serving enterprises, carriers and resellers with dedicated local sales and support, a robust national network, and innovative voice and data solutions in 23 top U.S. markets.

About General Bandwidth
General Bandwidth's flagship G6 ® Packet Telephony Migration Platform is currently in live service within major U.S. ILECs, as well as many other carriers, a testament to its scalability and carrier grade design. The G6 platform enables service providers to deploy voice over broadband technology to cost-effectively deliver voice services over their existing broadband infrastructure and provide a migration path to end-to-end packet networks. www.genband.com

Trademark notes : G6 and General Bandwidth are registered trademarks of General Bandwidth Inc.

Contact:
Tabitha Bailey
General Bandwidth
P: 805-241-2532
Email: Tabitha.bailey@genband.com