Using PortaSwitch, Young Telecom Proving Viability Of Triple-Play Services In Developing Countries

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- For the developing nations of the world, wired and wireless Internet services are one of the great equalizers, allowing historic advancements in culture, education, living standards and national economies. Companies around the globe are rushing to provide these integrated digital services to underserved nations and people groups—and Broadlink Networks & Communications is no exception.

Founded in 2006, Broadlink set out to be the first one-stop Internet service provider in its home country of Nepal. It set as its initial goal to provide Wi-Fi internet and telephone services to virtually all the major population centers of this mountainous Asian nation, and then to add full triple-play services on an expedited basis.

Delivering such a broad array of digital services is a tall order, particularly for a young company needing flexibility, reliability and exceptional cost efficiency from its network infrastructure. Broadlink's first SIP/media softswitch and billing platforms performed well initially, but before long it became evident that a more versatile and robust solution was needed.

"The various business strategies and changes we wanted to bring to our business drove us to re-evaluate our system," said Binod Timalsina, Broadlink's managing director. "PortaSwitch was one of our options from the very beginning, when we were first designing our business model. Based on its ability to keep up with evolving needs like ours, we decided it was time to give up our existing vendor and go with PortaSwitch."

PortaSwitch, from PortaOne, is a combined softswitch and billing management platform for next-generation telecommunications companies. The versatile system, comprised of a class 4-5 SIP softswitch, converged billing software and media application servers, supports virtually every kind of triple-play service from voice calls and messaging to data transfer. Able to deliver any kind of residential or business IP-PBX service, PortaSwitch reliably handles all the call control, routing, proxying, and billing functions of a diversified digital services company.

"PortaSwitch helps us in doing business the way we want. We are not forced to adapt to the way the billing system works," Timalsina noted. "Adding new solutions and services has become much easier—and it helps us to generate continuous revenue."

Part of Broadlink's decision to select PortaSwitch was PortaOne's reputation for customer service. "We have received fantastic support form the PortaOne technical support team," stated Timalsina. "The onsite training at our headquarters in Nepal that was conducted by the PortaOne training engineer went very impressively. Furthermore, PortaOne's support team has been very professional and genuine in handling and solving the trouble tickets that have been raised."

From its inception Broadlink has aggressively pursued a wireless strategy for its service lineup, believing that Wi-Fi would quickly become the most important criteria for consumers and business customers alike. PortaSwitch has allowed Broadlink to become the first service provider in the nation to offer two solutions from the same account; in fact, customers now have the mobility to use their account from any place in the nation where Broadlink offers network coverage—over 80 Nepalese cities so far.

"We need to be constantly able to cope, compete and update with the rapid changes that the evolving technology has brought into people's lives," said Timalsina. "With PortaSwitch, it has been easy to bring such new services, ideas and schemes that can be bundled to our existing plans to add value and differentiate us from our competitors. We are proud of the current breakthrough in providing various solutions to our customers under one platform. In doing this, we have created a benchmark in this industry in Nepal for others to follow."

About PortaOne:
Based in Canada, PortaOne is a leading global provider of software for the telecommunications and utility industries. The company's products enable service providers and carriers to run a broad line of retail and wholesale services within a single software package.  PortaOne's flagship products, PortaSwitch (http://portaone.com/portaswitch/index.php) and MetroBilling (www.MetroBilling.com) are a fundamental part of the business infrastructure for over 380 service providers and telcos in 80+ countries worldwide. Over two-thirds of PortaOne staff are support engineers providing the best-in-industry 24/7 technical support services for clients involved in hosted IP PBX and SIP trunking services, calling cards, wholesale origination and termination, residential triple-play, MVNO/MVNE, callshops and more. To learn more, visit www.PortaOne.com.

SOURCE PortaOne