Dear Colleague,

Welcome to another issue of RAD at a Glance, the newsletter from RAD Data Communications about developments in the communications industry.

ACCESS TRENDS

Triple Play over SDH/SONET Unites the Traditional with the Modern

Triple Play services - a combination of Internet access, telephony, TV and video - are expected to offer considerable sales potential in the consumer segment. Triple Play has plenty of appeal for customers: they only need to pay for one access service and can place phone calls affordably over the Internet, surf the Web, watch TV, and access videos, games and music for their home entertainment platforms over the network. These services can be offered on both DSL lines and back channel-enabled broadband TV cable, so competition for consumer business will get tougher. DSL providers and TV cable network operators are suddenly finding that they are rivals in the same market.

There are, however, opportunities amid the competitive risks: Triple Play is seen as a means of increasing the average revenue per user (ARPU), attracting new customers, and offsetting shrinking margins in former cash-cow segments, like call charges and DSL access, with revenue streams from value-added services. So it's hardly surprising that Internet service providers (ISPs) are working hard to begin offering attractive Triple Play services and to enrich these services with value-added communication capabilities and entertainment content.

But to deliver these services, ISPs need more than just a simple infrastructure for data transportation. They need modern networks that are optimized for real-time applications, that can sustain the transmission of TV broadcasts and video on demand and enable guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS). This is good for carriers because, with the decline in prices in recent years, they can hardly turn a profit worth mentioning by simply providing data transport infrastructure. Full story

GENERAL NEWS

Conference on Hi-Tech Strategies for Developing Countries Highlights the RAD Paradigm

Israel's achievement in transforming itself from a developing country into a hi-tech powerhouse was the focus of a conference held in Guatemala City in March. Entitled "Israel's Key to Success in the Hi-Tech Sector," the conference studied the paradigm of hi-tech in Israel as exemplified by RAD Data Communications. Full story

SUCCESS STORIES

Cruise Ships Now Have an Efficient Solution for GSM over Satellite

Maritime Communications Partner AS (MCP), a Norwegian-based provider of onboard cell phone connectivity to cruise ships and ferries that provides global coverage through leading suppliers of maritime satellite services, has deployed GSM A-bis optimization gateways from RAD Data Communications to reduce costs by saving on satellite bandwidth. Full story

NEW PRODUCT

Vmux-310 VoIP Gateway

The Vmux-310 is a customer-located VoIP gateway that converges fax, voice and modem over IP networks using standard SIP signaling. The Vmux-310 can be ordered with two, four, eight, or 24 FXS ports and has an additional FXO lifeline port for PSTN backup in case of power failure. The Vmux-310 supports all required VoIP features and supplementary services, and is fully interoperable with leading VoIP vendors' equipment.
More details on Vmux-310

WHAT'S NEW ON-LINE

Two New White Papers

Ethernet OAM
Understand better why service layer Ethernet OAM is the most important OAM protocol for ensuring end-to-end QoS.
http://www.rad.com/Article/0,6583,27347-Ethernet_OAM,00.html

Multiservice Ethernet NTUs
Explore the economical benefits that multiservice network termination units offer in delivering Ethernet service while supporting revenue-generating legacy TDM services.
http://www.rad.com/Article/0,6583,27316,00.html

Read@RAD

Our new Read@RAD page includes links to articles, white papers and think pieces on telecommunications, IT and related fields. You can also sign up to automatically receive periodic updates. Visit Read@RAD

Sincerely,
Reuven Eliaz
Editor, RAD Data Communications