MSF Announces NGN Test Bed to Support Accelerating NGN Activity

The MultiService Forum (MSF) announced today the launch of its
permanent test bed programme to meet growing demand for testing NGN
(Next Generation Networks) components and interfaces. The MSF NGN
Interoperability Test Bed will be housed at the University of New
Hampshire InterOperability Lab (UNH-IOL) and, following an initial
pilot trial in October 2007, the first full tranche of testing will be
initiated in Q1 2008 to address the interoperability of NGN media
gateways. This new initiative is additional to the existing Global MSF
Interoperability programme and will build on the MSF's plans for
GMI2008.

"The success of the latest event in the Global MSF
Interoperability programme, GMI 2006, has raised the industry's
expectations about collaborative testing to hasten the delivery of NGN
technology," explained Roger Ward, Office of the CTO, BT Group and
President of the MSF. "We are seeing a massive increase in NGN
implementation around the globe and though the industry is very
supportive of our GMI programme, we felt that there was so much more
to do than is possible in our showcase GMI2006, GMI2008 events. By
launching this permanent test bed now, we have a significant new
resource that will enable our members to collaborate on testing to at
a much greater depth that will enable them to be better prepared for
GMI2008, as well as continuing to work the issues arising from
GMI2006.

The MSF NGN Test Bed will support testing of all MSF
Implementation Agreements (IAs) and will grow to encompass future IAs
on topics including IPTV, Quality of Service, Location Management and
supporting Operational Support Systems.. In addition to continued in
depth testing based on key GMI interoperability scenarios such as the
optimal media routing of IMS interconnection between subscribers in
the MSF R3 domain and legacy networks, the MSF NGN Test Bed will
provide demonstration and test facilities designed in support of MSF
members' in-house laboratories and personnel as the industry gears up
for greater NGN development and deployment.

David Hutton, Standards Strategist, Vodafone commented: "GMI 2006
proved that IMS technologies and interfaces could work together in a
live traffic environment, and that is key to Vodafone's NGN strategy.
The event also clarified issues where further work needs to be done,
and we see the MSF's test bed as an essential factor in maintaining
the momentum of their GMI events and subsequent development of NGNs."

The "NGN Media Gateway Interoperability Test," scheduled for Q1
2008, will be preceded by a pilot test in late October involving
Vodafone, Huawei, and Tektronix. Under scrutiny will be the Mc
Interface located between the Mobile Switching Centre Server (MSC-S)
and the Media Gateway (MGW). The Mc Interface is an essential element
in the evolution of the mobile circuit switched domain to a Bearer
Independent Core Network architecture and an all-IP implementation.
The Bearer Independent Core Network architecture enables transport of
inter-MGW voice over IP transport, independent scaling of MSC-S's and
MGW's throughout the network, and Transcoder Free Operation. Opening
the Mc Interface will offer significant CapEx and OpEx savings to
operators and will allow the MSF to extend its architecture to mobile
operators.

About the MSF

The MultiService Forum (MSF) is a global association of service
providers and system suppliers committed to developing and promoting
open-architecture, multiservice switching systems.

Founded in 1998, the MSF is an open-membership organization
comprised of the world's leading telecommunications companies. The
MSF's activities include developing Implementation Agreements,
promoting worldwide compatibility and interoperability, and
encouraging input to appropriate national and international standards
bodies. For more information about the MSF and its members, visit the
MSF web site at http://www.msforum.org/

About UNH-IOL

Founded in 1988, the UNH-IOL is one of the networking industry's
premier third-party proving grounds for developing technologies.
Approximately 200 companies use the UNH-IOL to extend their
development and quality assurance efforts by testing and fine-tuning
technologies, protocols and products for multi-vendor interoperability
and conformance to standards. With more than 32,000+ sq. feet, 125
employees and millions of dollars worth of donated networking and test
equipment, the UNH-IOL houses the largest heterogeneous networking
test bed in North America, if not the world. For more information,
visit http://www.iol.unh.edu.