Veraz bags Reliance Info deal

Reliance Infocomm (RIC) has awarded building of its global voice over internet protocol (VoIP) network to the US-based Veraz Networks Inc. The contract, stretched over three phases, is expected to incur a list price of around $7 million in the initial phase.

Under the contract, Veraz would set up gateways in over 10 locations in India and globally that handle Reliance's international long-distance (ILD) traffic. The media gateways would be set up in the US, UK and Hong Kong, and in the major metroes in the country, Veraz Networks Country Head Yogesh Bijlani told Business Standard.

The company would set up I-Gate 4000 PRO media gateways, supporting 60,000 ports for ILD VoIP traffic. The gateways would handle all calls originating from Reliance's CDMA-based wireless and wireline connections, he said.

The initial phase has been concluded and commercial services have begun.

However, Bijlani did not divulge the value of the contract, but added that services were provided to Reliance on "aggressive" terms.

Industry sources said that the contract would be around $7 million in the initial first phase and is likely to be higher in the following phases.

Reliance is building a global VoIP network, which would be one of the largest and most advanced in the world. This network would enable the company save around 50 per cent on bandwidth costs.

Veraz Networks is a global provider of softswitch-based, toll-quality packet telephony solutions for traditional and next-generation communications networks.