Vodafone Germany (D2) Selects Starent Networks’ Core Solution for Its Multimedia Broadband Network

Starent Networks, Corp. announced Vodafone Germany (D2), a division of Vodafone Group PLC, is deploying Starent’s intelligent multimedia core solutions to deliver services over its broadband network.

Starent Networks is delivering these solutions to Vodafone Germany as a part of a global agreement with Vodafone Group to serve as a preferred vendor of multimedia core solutions. Vodafone Group is one of the world’s largest mobile telecommunications company with a proportionate customer base of 241 million as of September 30, 2007.

Vodafone is a market leader in the deployment of next-generation networks. Last year Vodafone Group launched its 3G broadband service based on High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) with downlink peak rates of up to 7.2Mbps in selected markets, including Germany. The deployment of these networks further improves the subscriber experience with multimedia services and the mobile Internet. To enhance management of subscribers and their transactions, these broadband, next-generation networks require greater intelligence that allows the operator to understand and shape network traffic.

Starent Networks’ products address the requirements of these networks by combining subscriber and network intelligence with high performance in the core to deliver robust voice, data and multimedia services.

“Vodafone is committed to delivering cutting edge services such as voice SMS, video downloads and high-speed mobile Internet to our subscribers. We want to make their interaction with our network seamless to deliver a strong multimedia experience,” said Hartmut Kremling, CTO for Vodafone Germany. “Starent Networks’ solutions are an ideal fit with our requirements for network intelligence, high-performance and support of both 2.5G and 3G technologies.”

Starent Networks will be providing Vodafone Germany the intelligent Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) and Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) for their Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network. The GGSN and SGSN functions are being deployed on Starent Networks’ ST40 multimedia core platform with the capability to integrate both functions in a single platform. The SGSN will also provide both 2.5G and 3G network access in the same platform. This ability allows Vodafone to support its 2.5G packet network requirements along with their 3G network deployment. This simplifies the network topology while handling subscriber roaming between the 2.5G and 3G networks. Starent Networks’ solution is able to handle both the 2.5G and 3G transactions within a single process, which will enable node and network performance to be optimized. Furthermore, utilizing the ST40 platform’s built in routing engines, Starent Networks’ SGSN enhances the handling of 3G traffic by providing both traditional 3G architecture and direct tunnel in a single solution.

“Vodafone is an industry pioneer in delivering broadband multimedia services to the great benefit of their customers,” said Ashraf Dahod, CEO of Starent Networks. “Being selected by such a prestigious operator is very rewarding and will enhance our offerings as we partner with Vodafone Germany to deliver a superior multimedia experience to their customers.”