Interview with Giorgio Bertolina, CEO, Italtel

Your TSB applications platform comes with a few web mashups which seems like a progressive move. What traction are you getting for this product?

As of now, we are seeing interest both from Italian and EMEA tier 2 operators and large multinational companies. We are basically positioning our TSB product to both the telco operators and enterprises that want an easy integration of web 2.0 services in the existing fixed mobile and enterprise networks.

What role do you see the social networks playing and could they become your future customers?

Social networking is a fundamental aspect of web 2.0 evolution and is changing the way people interact with the media and communicate. Due to the rise of social networking, media companies have to spend more on technology to handle such interaction. Cisco recently announced it is designing a new kind of operating system called EOS (entertainment operating system) dedicated to on-line communities. Italtel is evolving its next generation networks strategy with robust web 2.0 applications in order to support service providers’ transition to new media. For example, we enable live calls on Second Life and set-top-box interaction for IPTV open environment.

Does your TSB platform support advertising based telephony?

Advertising on free phone calls is effective on the Internet and it is becoming a viable business model also on cellular phones. We are ready to support service providers that decide to adopt this type of models. TSB can mix existing and new services with advertising in a fast and easy way to fit in with the time-to-market requirements of service providers. As an example, through TSB, it is possible to make a selective and personalized introduction of messaging with personalized advertising, either on mobile phones or on TV platforms.
Another area of action for VoIP right now is wireless. What opportunities does wireless VoIP create for Italtel?

Wireless VoIP is a big opportunity for Italtel since the dual-mode devices allow you to make VoIP calls directly from the device managed from Softswitch or IMS. We have already implemented some solutions which enable these services. This is also a big opportunity for Italtel to sell IP/IP gateways and media gateway based solutions. Italtel is already selling IP/IP gateways which allow packet data interconnections among the carriers.

Besides, mobile operators are developing IP backbones to manage data traffic and voice backhaul,and Italtel manages one of the largest IP backbones for a mobile operator at TIM Brazil.

Let us move over to your core business, the softswitches. Carriers are not actively migrating to VoIP. What are the factors responsible for this?

As you know European and US carriers are actually adopting a step by step approach in the migration towards IP and this obviously requires substantial investments and users willing to pay for new services such as IPTV. Having said that, there is no doubt that we have a sizable market here. Italtel alone has already installed over 18 million VoIP lines.

You implemented world’s first wholesale migration to VoIP with Telecom Italia. What are the lessons learned from such a large scale project?

This large scale project is a fundamental success story that has allowed Italtel to enter successfully into several foreign markets in EMEA and Latin America. These markets are highly competitive and our competitors have been operating there for several years. I think the key elements of our success were the speed of execution, flexibility, and solution integration capacity. The complexity of the project, its early start - it was completed long before many other foreign incumbents started investing into VoIP networks - and its successful deployment are a proof of Italtel value as a solution provider.

You are finding consistent success in Latin America whereas other mid sized vendors are struggling there. What do you trace your Latin America success down to?

Italtel has been operating in Southern and Central American markets for about twenty years now and has played a key role in development of networks of several operators and service providers. In Brazil, in particular, Italtel has implemented for TIM Brazil an IP network based on Italtel Softswitch i-SSW and Cisco IP Core equipment to interconnect traditional MSC and to transport Other Local Operators’ traffic and long distance traffic through the entire Brazilian territory. This is one of the largest NGN rollouts in Latin America and it was implemented in very short time.

Why are your IMS and Softswitch two different product lines? Why do you have two different sales pitches?

The two products lines have a strong synergy and common elements. Some carriers are evolving towards NGN with emphasis on compliance to the legacy network and some customers are asking for IMS overlay to complete the network’s renewal. We use the same building blocks for the two product lines. And what I mean by that is that we design our software to be compatible with the SOA for flexibility in terms of future features and customisation. Flexibility and speed are key on our target markets.

Huawei and ZTE were supposed to get tough during 2007 offering serious competition. How far has that competitive threat materialized during 2007 and how do you tackle competition in prices?

As a policy, we do not comment on competitors’ business. Italtel products have been designed with a high degree of scalability and this helps with the price competition issue. We are also using commercial hardware such as ATCA to drive down the costs of production and scale volume.

And finally, what is your strategy for ‘green telecom products’? There seems to be a major push in this area?

Italtel has a long experience in the green environment, because it was among the first companies in Italy – together with ABB – to promote the EPD [… Dichiarazione Ambientale di Prodotto ] and communicate to the customers the environmental efficiencies of its products and services. In particular, Italtel has developed its product lines paying close attention to environmental aspects such as size reduction, energy and materials consumption.