Cavalier expands SIP services; CLEC merger announced

Customers can choose service parameters including 'choice of bandwidth, number of concurrent calls, voice compression, Internet speed, private network options, and security and calling features'

VoIP, unified messaging, products and services

Cavalier has joined the Session Initiation Protocol bandwagon with the recent expansion of its SIP-based services. A competitive carrier, the company services hundreds of thousands of business, consumer and government customers in the Eastern United States using its own fiber optic network.

Cavalier's modular product approach will let customers choose service parameters including "choice of bandwidth, number of concurrent calls, voice compression, Internet speed, private network options, and security and calling features, " according to the company's statement. Standard business telephony traditional features such as shared trunking, private dial plans, call re-direct, direct inward dial and E-911 are also offered with the IP voice service.

The service is connected to the Cavalier network using a standard Ethernet to a SIP-compatible IP PBX or other IP voice system, and Cavalier offers connection speeds ranging from 1Mbps to multiple gigabytes per second. The SIP-based VoIP product will complement Cavalier's existing portfolio of traditional TDM voice, ISDN PRI services, an integrated access portfolio and a hosted IP-PBX product.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

Cavalier has joined the Session Initiation Protocol bandwagon with the recent expansion of its SIP-based services. A competitive carrier, the company services hundreds of thousands of business, consumer and government customers in the Eastern United States using its own fiber optic network.

Cavalier's modular product approach will let customers choose service parameters including "choice of bandwidth, number of concurrent calls, voice compression, Internet speed, private network options, and security and calling features, " according to the company's statement. Standard business telephony traditional features such as shared trunking, private dial plans, call re-direct, direct inward dial and E-911 are also offered with the IP voice service.

The service is connected to the Cavalier network using a standard Ethernet to a SIP-compatible IP PBX or other IP voice system, and Cavalier offers connection speeds ranging from 1Mbps to multiple gigabytes per second. The SIP-based VoIP product will complement Cavalier's existing portfolio of traditional TDM voice, ISDN PRI services, an integrated access portfolio and a hosted IP-PBX product.

In other related CLEC news, MegaPath, Covad, Speakeasy have completed their merger, creating what they call a "Managed Services Local Exchange Carrier (MSLEC)". The new company will be called MegaPath and it starts with more than 85,000 business customers and over 4,500 partners throughout North America.

Tech M&A deals of 2010

D. Craig Young, the company's Chairman and CEO, said in a statement, "With the combination of MegaPath, Covad and Speakeasy, we are bringing to market a leading nationwide IP network to deliver a complete line of end-to-end managed services, including voice, data and security. Small, medium and large enterprises will now benefit from a new service provider that is willing to invest in advanced services, while remaining heavily focused on customer service."

The new MegaPath remains a privately held company, and it will serve the market through two divisions: a wholesale operating division and a direct, business markets division. Pat Bennett, former CEO of Covad, will serve as chief strategy officer and head of wholesale markets while Bruce Chatterley, former CEO of Speakeasy, will be the president of the business markets unit -- responsible non-wholesale customer sales, service and marketing. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed.

Read more about voip & convergence in Network World's VoIP & Convergence section.

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. Larry Hettick is a principal analyst at Current Analysis.