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Sigma Systems Deploys Solution for
Provisioning of Cable Telephony Services at Cox Communications
De Facto Cable OSS Leader Becomes First to
Automate Cable Telephony Delivery
Toronto, ON/Atlanta, GA – April 5, 2001 – PRNewswire – Sigma
Systems Group, the cable industry's leading provider of service
management OSS, announced today it has deployed the components
of its Cable Broadband in a Box™ solution for automated
provisioning of cable telephony services at Cox Communications.
"This win is a milestone in Sigma's history because it unites
our expertise in both the cable broadband and CLEC areas," said
Andy Jasuja, President, Sigma Systems. "Cable telephony ranks as
one of the more challenging cable broadband services, and we are
proud to be the first to have automated delivery of the solution
to tier-one MSOs. This success augments our strong relationship
with Cox as their premier OSS provider. We believe automated
provisioning of voice services will help drive Cox's growth in
today's competitive broadband access market."
To simplify and mechanize the complex process for voice service
activation, Cox selected Sigma's cable OSS suite, Cable
Broadband in a Box™. Leveraging solutions from its CLEC in a
Box™ offering, Sigma extended Cable Broadband in a Box™ to
activate circuit-switched voice services over Cox's HFC network,
which function in conjunction with Nortel DMS 500 technology,
Cornerstone HDT and Glenayre voice-mail systems.
"Deploying reliable and scalable operations support solutions is
key to maintaining and building on our unprecedented growth in
convergent video and communications services," says Veenod Kurup,
Director of Data OSS for Cox Communications. "We are seeing
decreased service activation times and greatly improved
provisioning accuracy as a result of deploying Sigma's
solutions."
Cox currently provides its cable telephony services to
approximately 245,000 subscribers nationwide. The National Cable
Television Association reports there were 568,000 U.S. cable
telephony customers in 3Q of 2000, a 290% increase from 1999,
making cable telephony one of the fastest growing digital cable
services on the market today.
"Automating Cox's back office interfaces and integrating its
various systems, frees up personnel from complex, repetitive
tasks to focus attention elsewhere in the business," adds
Sigma's Director of Business Development, Joe Grubb. "Sigma
provides winning solutions that allow cable operators to define
and deploy new service offerings quickly and easily, positioning
them to grow their businesses in today's ultra-competitive
environment."
Cox has licensed the acquisition of a complete cable OSS
solution from Sigma for the provisioning of next-generation
services including high-speed Internet access, interactive TV
and cable telephony. Sigma already provisions two-thirds of all
high-speed Internet access across North American tier-one MSOs
today.
The Modular Approach of Cable Broadband in a Box™
Sigma's Cable Broadband in a Box™ is a suite of cable OSS
products, consisting of four modular, pre-integrated
applications. Because of their underlying robust and flexible
architecture, cable operators are able to deploy the solution
quickly and efficiently, bringing significant cost reductions
and productivity gains to their operations and bottom line. The
Service Management module facilitates end-to-end service
fulfillment, from customer care, through order management, to
provisioning and activation of cable broadband services. The
module handles high-speed Internet access, open access, ITV,
cable telephony and video-on-demand (VOD) services.
The Self-Care module allows cable broadband clients to
self-activate their Internet access, applications and cable
modem for instant service, reducing truck rolls and CSR
dependency.
The Network Topology Management module handles the correlation
and impact analysis between the various network domains in a
cable service provider's network that affect the configuration
and deployment of subscriber service, including hybrid fiber
coax (HFC), node combining and segmentation, IP, and telephony
network components.
The Service Diagnostics module streamlines a CSR's response to
customer trouble calls by automating a sequence of tests for
diagnosing service problems.
In an industry where tens of thousands of orders can be received
weekly, Cable Broadband in a Box™ automatically and reliably
activates service to a market increasingly dependent on
broadband access to the home. The product also allows cable
companies to rapidly define new service offerings and manage the
topology of their networks to compete with other cable,
satellite, DSL and fixed wireless service providers. Sigma's
integrated solution is not only a milestone achievement among
operations support systems providers, but notably a first in the
burgeoning global cable OSS industry as well.
In a year of tremendous growth, Sigma now serves seven of the
top North American cable MSOs and ISPs. Other recent
announcements by Sigma include its partnership with broadband
networking systems vendor Terayon and completion of its second
round of financing, including a minority equity stake from Cisco
Systems.
About Sigma Systems
Sigma Systems is the cable industry leader and pioneer in
developing and deploying service management OSS solutions. Sigma
has been a global provider of OSS (operations support systems)
for cable and telecommunications service providers since 1990.
Sigma products provision two- thirds of all high-speed Internet
access across North American tier-one cable MSOs and ISPs. Seven
of the top tier-one north American cable MSOs and ISPs are Sigma
clients. Sigma is also the first OSS provider to have delivered
automated service provisioning solutions for cable internet,
interactive TV and cable telephony. Investors in Sigma include
Cisco Systems, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Morgan
Stanley Dean Witter, and Redwood Ventures. Sigma's Cable
Broadband in a Box™, a service management OSS suite for cable
operators, supports high-speed Internet access, open access,
interactive TV, cable telephony, and video-on-demand service
management, as well as self-care, network topology and service
diagnostics management. Using its pre-integrated CLEC in a Box™
suite, next-generation CLECs, DLECs, and ICPs can manage their
operations using a modular suite of tools automating the service
cycle from customer care, through provisioning, to billing.
Sigma's superOSS suites are based on its industry-leading
ServiceBroker™ workflow and service management platform.
Additional information about Sigma Systems can be found at
www.sigma-systems.com.
About Cox Communications, Inc.
Cox Communications serves approximately 6.2 million
customers in the United States, making it the U.S.'s
fifth-largest cable television company. A full-service provider
of telecommunications products, Cox offers an array of services,
including Cox Cable; local and long distance telephone services
under the Cox Digital Telephone brand; high-speed Internet
access under the brands Cox@Home, Road Runner and Cox Express;
advanced digital video programming services under the Cox
Digital Cable brand; and commercial voice and data services via
Cox Business Services. Cox is an investor in telecommunications
companies including Sprint PCS and Excite@Home, as well as
programming networks including Discovery Channel, The Learning
Channel, Outdoor Life and Speedvision. More information about
Cox Communications can be accessed on the Internet at
www.cox.com.
For Sigma Systems:
John Sacke
Sacke and Associates
+1.416.218.1102
johns@sackepr.com
www.sackepr.com |
