Great Plains Ramps IP Network Buildout

Great Plains Communications, which calls itself the largest private communications provider in Nebraska, will use Genband’s G2 Compact Media Gateways as the first step in its migration to an all-IP network.

Great Plains serves nearly 30,000 customers in 80 rural communities in the state.

Initially, the carrier will use G2 gateways to support both new and existing access products with Emergency Stand Alone (ESA) capabilities into legacy switches. Genband says this architecture allows the eventual re-homing of the equipment to a softswitch, with only software re-provisioning and no hardware changes. G2 gateways will also be used in Great Plains’ cable properties, "enabling their legacy switches to efficiently process customers’ voice service until their future transformation plans are executed," Genband adds.

Great Plains will install approximately 20 G2 gateways to deliver communication service even during a network outage or interruption. For example, if the uplink to the network is broken, the G2 continues to provide basic call routing and calling features to the lines that it serves. The G2 gateways also put Great Plains Communications in compliance with emergency calling regulations.

Comments John Greene, chief network engineer at Great Plains Communications," "(The applications) also gives us the flexibility to support multiple IP and TDM applications as well as the ability to perform trunking gateway, aggregation and packet-line gateway functions in an IP call control environment."