Nokia STP

BroadForward installs a growing number of virtualized STPs, including unique container-based deployments

New wave of swap-outs of legacy systems for container-based STPs as operators push for cloud-based solutions Amersfoort, 3nd November 2022 BroadForward points to the increasing interest from operators around the world in its virtualized 2G/3G and 4G signaling solutions. The company reports that it has replaced a record number of legacy STPs in almost every region, including tier-1 sized and even container-based cloud deployments of the BroadForward STP. Although the sunset of 2G and 3G networks is planned in most countries, these networks are still widely used. According to the GSMA (“The Mobile Economy 2022”), 97% of the world’s population is still covered by 2G networks. While this will gradually decrease as operators move to 5G, these legacy environments will need to be kept running and maintained for years to come. Circuit-switched networks will eventually be switched off, but there are still many applications using 2G technology, such as mobile network inter-connectivity, IoT devices, feature phones etc. And with that, the need to maintain or even renew the network elements that support the 2G/3G networks, such as an STP, remains. Operators each have different reasons for replacing their legacy systems. Initially, these were mainly related to End Of Life (EOL) situations and rationalization. Also, replacement of products from a High Risk Vendor (HRV) is common these days. In addition, a new wave of replacements has begun in which operators are pushing for cloud-based solutions to achieve a much lower cost base and a unified deployment architecture for their core network infrastructure. For legacy routers such as STP, this is difficult to achieve. While these products are (more or less) virtualized by most vendors, they cannot take the next step to run in a container in the cloud. The BroadForward STP is by design a 100% software solution, supporting virtualization and cloud-, as well as containerized application deployment. And the latter makes the BroadForward STP unique. BroadForward is the first vendor to run live container-based STPs in the field. BroadForward has extensive experience replacing various legacy vendor brands and offers service providers very attractive options to replace their legacy systems with container-based alternatives. Taco Schoute, CEO of BroadForward, added “BroadForward is one of the few, if not the only one, to have built a fully software based STP from the ground up. Not only our 5G portfolio, but all our products can run on virtual machines or in containers. This enables operators to also deploy legacy signaling functions in a unified deployment architecture. All of our signaling network functions - including the STP - run on our GSMA GLOMO Award-winning converged software solution called BFX. With the current trend of moving core network functions to the cloud, we find ourselves at the sweet spot to support operators in replacing legacy products with a much more cost-effective and flexible alternative.” → Read more

Voiceworks selects BroadForward Next Generation STP to replace its legacy systems

Voiceworks, one of the largest players in the Dutch Telco and IT industries, has chosen the BroadForward STP to replace its legacy systems and enable intelligent routing of all of its SS7 signaling traffic Almere, November 18th, 2020 Enrach-Voiceworks selects BroadForward STP

Enrach-Voiceworks selects BroadForward STP

Voiceworks announced today they have selected the BroadForward Signaling Transfer Point (BroadForward STP). The company, a European leading provider of mobile telephony, fixed telephony, UC and data solutions, has currently two legacy SS7 routing solutions deployed from two major incumbent vendors which both will be replaced by the BroadForward Next Generation STP. The BroadForward STP is a highly versatile routing hub for all 2G/3G related signaling traffic and will be deployed in a high available mode supporting geographic redundancy across multiple sites. The software solution provides Voiceworks with the signaling intelligence required to unify and simplify SS7 based routing configuration and management of all their SS7 signaling traffic. Voiceworks already has the BroadForward Diameter Signaling Controller (BroadForward DSC) in operation for routing of 4G signaling traffic. All BroadForward products support easy-to-use GUI based configuration and integration of advanced signaling scenarios across protocols and technologies, without the need for scripting or coding. Voiceworks, which is based in the Netherlands, is one of the largest and fastest growing Voice over IP (VoIP) and web technology specialists in both the Dutch and German telecom markets. Their solutions – among others corporate Unified Communications (UC) and fixed-mobile-integration services – are delivered from the cloud both as a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) and Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), which support clients and partners in their business growth. Voiceworks is part of pan-European unified communications technology and telecommunication services player Enreach. Organizations within this group all contribute to intelligent, integrated IT and communications solutions for the business market. Enreach serves over 1650 resellers and 2 million end-customers with activities in 25 countries. Christian Bichbäumer, Head of Mobile Operations at Enreach says: “The deployment of the BroadForward STP will allow us to rationalize our network as we replace multiple legacy routers with one uniform, next generation software solution. The new STP will provide us with the required flexibility to implement complex routing logic and services, using a central easy-to-use configuration and management function. BroadForward has a proven track record for successfully supporting complex technical integrations projects at Enreach and we are happy to continue this collaboration.” Steve Pit, COO at Enreach, adds” As an added bonus, the BroadForward STP runs on the same single engine signaling framework as our other BroadForward products. This not only provides cross-platform signaling flexibility to adapt to the specific wishes of our enterprise customers, but also enables us to reduce costs significantly”. BroadForward CEO, Taco Schoute concludes: “As a long term signaling partner of Voiceworks we are thrilled to be selected to replace their legacy SS7 routers with our next generation STP. Our solution enables Voiceworks to move away from the limitations of inflexible legacy SS7 products, often running on proprietary hardware. In contrast, The BroadForward STP is a 100% software solution by design, allowing Voiceworks to enable converged signaling scenarios across 2G/3G, 4G and even 5G”. → Read more

Signaling Transfer Point (STP)

The BroadForward Next Generation Signaling Transfer Point (STP) is a award winning solution for intelligent routing of SS7 signaling traffic in 2G and 3G networks. It can be deployed on bare metal, virtual machines, containers, and cloud environments, either standalone or combined on a single-engine platform with other products, such as the BroadForward Diameter Signaling Controller (DSC) and BroadForward Firewall.

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