Securing your MSO VoIP network investment through comprehensive Network Acceptance Testing

The dynamics of cable telephony are rapidly shifting, and very soon a majority of customers will have access to an IP-based alternative phone service from their cable provider. Cable companies market Voice over IP (VoIP) service, also known as “digital phone” or “digital voice service”, as a traditional phone network. Carefully worded marketing demystifies the offered service and, as a result, cable providers are more likely to have their customers choose VoIP instead of traditional plain old telephone service (POTS). In the race to capture the market segment, MSO players are aggressively adopting “best in class” practices to implement their VoIP networks. A final and critical phase of network implementation is Network Acceptance Testing. It plays an essential role in the evaluation of the network, and the end result of Network Acceptance Testing may have a significant impact on overall project schedules and budgets. Network Acceptance Testing is comprised of a suite of test cases that are intended to verify and demonstrate conformance to product and network specifications. With the complexity of these systems, the number of test cases required to ensure a high degree of coverage may become far too large. This means that the execution of all potential test cases may be infeasible due to time limitations or resource availability. Conversely, a very limited selection of test cases can result in inadequate test coverage. This paper reviews the MSO Network Acceptance Testing model, which uses a verification methodology developed by Nortel aimed at maximizing the test coverage. Business pressures for cable VoIP deployment Equipment vendors and service providers are challenged on many fronts by the growing interest in VoIP. The subscriber base in the U.S. grew by 33 percent in the third quarter of 2005, led by Time Warner Cable, which added a net of 240,000 subscribers for a total of 3.6 million users nationwide. The expansion and modernization of the cable outside plant infrastructure continues at a rapid rate. The current forecast for 2009 anticipates that 88 percent of the cable plant that passes homes will be equipped