We've talked about how the Internet is forecast to carry a million minutes of video every second in the next few years, and how Cisco's Elastic Core solution will help the core infrastructure carry that load. But a scalable and flexible core is only one piece of the puzzle that network operators need. Who else is helping to make a video-centric future a reality?

One place to look is a solution that's been developed by Miami, FL based NxtGn and Virginia-based Telarix. We wrote about NxtGn's affiliate Next Communications last year, they've been successful in wholesale voice communications, in part due to in-house technology paired with an off-the-shelf Cisco ASR 1000 router performing Session Border Control functionality. Packing a softswitch and an SBC that can handle 16K voice or HD video calls in half a rack has enabled them to minimize their costs in a relatively low-margin market. Telarix isn't as well known outside of the carrier market -they specialize in what is known as "interconnect business optimization" -basically the back-office components to handle billing, auditing, and traffic routing between carriers. While the concept of billing and auditing might make your eyes glaze over, if carriers can't figure out how to bill for services rendered you can imagine they view that as a really bad thing.

What NxtGn and Telarix haveput together -they call it "AVYDA Powered by Telarix" is a turnkey solution which seeks to eliminate some of the key challenges network operators face to better monetize their networks to deliver video calls:

1. No easy way to get paid: "Show me the money" is critical for carriers, yet many of the existing Over-the-Top (OTT) solutions consume network resources while the most or all of the revenue flows to the OTT provider. By incorporating Telarix back office services (already in use by over 200 carriers across the world) the AVYDA solution helps network operators efficiently interconnect video calls while ensuring that proper CDRs (Call Detail Records) are created.
2. High bandwidth and lack of scale: Many current video solutions use inefficient high bandwidth codecs which either limits the types of end-points that can be connected or require WiFi connections. The AVYDA team has shown that they can connect mobile devices over 3G yet maintain picture quality, and by using the Cisco ASR 1000 and it's high-powered control plane have the capacity to deliver 16K concurrent HD video and voice calls while still processing 250 new calls per second.
3. Lack of standards: At Cisco we talk about "Connecting the Unconnected," yet many of the existing OTT video solutions are closed or proprietary. AVYDA uses an open, standards-based solution in terms of the codecs being used and the type of endpoints supported. From high-end Cisco TelePresence platforms to computers, mobile phones, and tablets (both Android and iOS), all can be interconnected seamlessly. This expands the reach and flexibility of the service and makes it more valuable for carriers.
4. Support for IPv6: Since the World IPv6 Launch back on June 6^thwe've seen a steady increase in customers using the latest Internet Protocol, recently breaking the 1% barrier. This will continue and become critical to carriers who wish to deliver services to mobile devices.

Already at least one emerging Mexican network operator, Asiya Comunicaciones (formerly known as ATSI Mexico) and one of a few full-service national telecommunications operators has made the decision to deploy the new solution.

Jerry Huerta, Chief Operating Officer, Asiya Comunicaciones

"The robust solution AVYDA provides will make us the first company in Mexico to offer high definition video calling to smartphones, computers, tablets, and other mobile devices. We think this is a terrific opportunity both for our customers and our investors."