BLACK HILLS FIBERCOM AND TOLLBRIDGE TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCE FIELD TRIAL TO TEST VOICE-OVER-CABLE SOLUTION
Rapid City, S.D., and Santa Clara, Calif., November 1, 1999 - Black Hills FiberCom and TollBridge Technologies, Inc., announced today that they begin field trials this week to test TollBridge's IP-based, multiline, voice-over-broadband solutions. TollBridge's broadband-agnostic equipment is the only gateway solution that provides Black Hills FiberCom a means to deliver toll-quality T1 and channelized voice over its current fiber and coaxial cable backbone. Black Hills FiberCom serves communities in Midwest regions and plans to rollout voice-over-cable services in early 2000. "TollBridge designed its products to integrate quickly into any broadband architecture," said Jim Grady, vice president of marketing at TollBridge Technologies. "Because the TollBridge equipment is based on IP, it is uniquely qualified to provide voice-over-cable solutions to Black Hills FiberCom and other multiple service operators and Competitive Local Exchange Carriers." As a "total communications" provider, Black Hills FiberCom offers its business and residential customers video, voice, and high-speed cable data services. With TollBridge's TB200 Local Exchange Gateway and TB50 integrated access device (IAD), Black Hills FiberCom can utilize cable to deliver toll-quality, full-featured voice services that support the same voice coding standards and rates supported by today's Class 5 digital telephony switches. Additionally, the TollBridge solution supports the Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP), allowing it to interoperate with next-generation IP-based "soft switches." Thus, Black Hills FiberCom can offer the full range of Class 5 services today and migrate customers to a host of new IP-based services over time. "We want to provide the best possible service to Midwest cities while remaining a cost-effective operation," said Mike Timmer, director of operations at Black Hills FiberCom. "We chose to evaluate the viability of implementing voice-over-cable using TollBridge's equipment because it can flexibly operate over any broadband transport method, is scalable up to T1 capacity, and has the technologically advanced IP-based architecture." About TollBridge Technologies
Founded in March 1998 and located in Santa Clara, Calif., TollBridge Technologies is the leading developer of IP-based multiline voice solutions targeted at Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs). The company's solutions change the economics of delivering voice services to small business customers by allowing voice CLECs that own Class 5 switches to use broadband access technologies, such as DSL, to bypass the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) and deliver toll-quality voice and integrated data services. For more information about TollBridge Technologies, visit the company's website at http://www.tollbridgetech.com or contact Rich Farana at 408/585-2146. About Black Hills FiberCom
hotel rooms Esbjerg Founded in September 1998 as a subsidiary of Black Hills Corporation, Black Hills FiberCom delivers high-quality, total communications services in the Midwest, including Rapid City and the Northern Black Hills. The company offers true video, voice, and high-speed data services to business and consumer customers. For more information about Black Hills FiberCom, visit the company's website at http://www.blackhillsfiber.com. TollBridge and TollVoiceTMreservations hotel de premier choix Bern are trademarks of TollBridge Technologies, Inc. All other service marks and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
