Orange Polska is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) and is part of the Orange Group, a leading provider of telecommunications services in Poland, Europe and worldwide. Orange Polska provides mobile and fixed-line telecommunications services, including voice connections, message and content transmission services, Internet access and television. In addition, it provides ICT (Information and Communications Technology) services, leased lines and data transmission services, as well as sales of telecommunications equipment, electricity trading and the development of telecommunication infrastructure.
In Poland, Orange is leader in the fixed telephony, Internet and data transmission markets. It is the only unique operator offering comprehensive telecommunications solutions available nationwide. Orange aims to provide the highest customer satisfaction and remain the most chosen provider of telecommunications, multimedia and entertainment services which use modern technologies. Orange provides fixed telephony services to approximately 3.5 million subscribers based on two different technologies: TDM – i.e. via traditional digital switching systems and by modern VoIP – telephony based on the SIP protocol. Orange wanted to improve cooperation of these two systems to provide smooth communication between them. To achieve this goal, the existing solution had to be replaced with a newer, more reliable, efficient and cost effective system. The implementation of this project, which also allowed for the reduction of operating costs (OPEX), was associated with a very significant challenge – the implementation of a completely new, critical system into the backbone network operator. The key factor regarding Orange’s choice was finding a proven and reliable vendor who had the competence, necessary capabilities, experience and engagement to successfully complete this demanding project. This was the reason Orange Polska decided to implement Asseco Media Gateway Control Function (Asseco MGCF), Asseco proprietary solution.
The main project goal, which began in November 2016, was to ensure the continuity of long-term services of Orange’s fixed network core in all of Poland. This was achieved by ensuring cooperation between VoIP and TDM – two areas of the network which are significantly different in terms of basic technology. Asseco MGCF replaced the existing platform completely and became one of the most critical system for maintaining the continuity of Orange’s fixed-line services in Poland.
Asseco MGCF was built in JAVA language according to the JSLEE standard and operates within the JBoss application server. The system is responsible for the conversion of signaling between VoIP and TDM networks for SIP and ISUP protocols. It has mechanisms for configuring protocol cooperation and filters, which are important for handling the vast amount of traffic coming from other telecommunications networks.
The MGCF system implemented by Asseco provides Orange Polska with the following functionalities:
- connections handling in SIP-ISUP, ISUP-SIP relations, as a local exchange,
- connections handling in ISUP-ISUP relation, as a transit exchange,
- support for ISUP, SIP, MEGACO (h.248), MGCP, ENUM,
- support for number portability through communication in the ENUM protocol,
- cooperation protocol configurations and filters,
- handling several hundred new connections per second while maintaining many thousands of active connections.
The MGCF system in Orange Polska communicates:
- in the TDM network with international, transit and local telephone exchanges, via SS7 protocols in the SIGTRAN network (120 telephone exchanges of 4 types),
- in the VoIP/IMS network directly with the main Session Router/Controller elements operating within the New Border Infrastructure platform,
- with 16 Media Gateway (MGW) instances of three different types across Poland.
The introduction of Asseco’s product into the Orange backbone network was an enormous challenge for the project team. This was primarily due to the need to carry out a very large range of tests, as for one system. The aim was to confirm the compatibility of telecommuni- cation protocols, starting with tests of cooperation with a wide range of the operator’s network equipment on through support scenarios involving handling various end services. This part of the project, which lasted for approximately one year, was carried out in the Orange laboratory and on the production network, and included:
As part of the project, Asseco and Orange’s team of experts integrated the new solution with other Orange systems, migrated domestic resources as well as ensured local and georedundancy.
This was one of the most technologically complex implementations carried out by Asseco for Orange Polska. Completed in January 2019, the project required tests and reconfiguration of 120 telephone exchanges of 4 types, which required the cooperation of personnel throughout Poland. At its peak, the project included about 90 specialists from Orange and more than 20 engineers from Asseco.
Key benefits
The new system implementation allowed to reduce platform maintenance costs significantly and provide long-term support. The solution not only met the high requirements of this large telecommunications operator such as reliability and efficiency of connection handling, but the new system also proved to be more flexible, efficient and scalable than before.
The system is fully adaptable to further development, which significantly shortens the time to market for introducing modifications to protocol cooperation and callflows algorithms, which may be necessary e.g. for launching access to new interoperator connections or transit services.
An additional advantage is the proprietary architecture of the solution, which allows for its further expansion and makes it possible for the telecom to become independent of outside software and hardware manufacturers. Due to the deployment of Asseco MGCF, Orange Polska has a scalable and efficient system in a suitably matched license model, which does not require, among others, operating licenses or product licenses of third parties.
