MetaSwitch Forum 2009: "We intend to be a major player."

LAS VEGAS - MetaSwitch executives drew a line in the sand on Tuesday, saying the company intends to be a major player in the IP communications space. It is bold, but confident talk coming from a low-key company that has traditionally talked more about new feature sets than industry leadership at their user group meetings.

Mapping out a vision for its customers and partners at the opening of the annual company user group meeting, MetaSwitch GM Graeme MacArthur said the company's market strategy keys moving forward would be to stay independent, strong and healthy.  

Customers have had questions on the private investment MetaSwitch received last year from Francisco Partners and Sequoia, since the acceptance of venture capital might imply an "exit strategy" that might include selling the company.

However, while never saying never, the company has big plans to the contrary. New CEO John Lazar told the audience of 600 attendees that MetaSwitch had cumulatively sold 919 softswitches through April 2009 and would invest $35 million dollars in research and development this year - a huge chunk of change, given the company's $118 million in revenues for 2008.

"Engineering is the core of our business," said Lazar. In support of that core, the company continues to hire at a brisk pace, having added 53 employees in the past year to reach the current staff of 495 employees.

While North America remains MetaSwitch's bread-and-butter, the company is expanding its sales and marketing operations to the Pacific islands - traditionally home of smaller telcos - and Central America. The company doesn't want to "dilute" its efforts by running into Europe and the Middle East.

The customer mix in North America is expected to expand into wireless service providers as well, in addition to it traditional incumbent carriers, and Tier 2 and Tier 3 wireline and cable providers. A shift to LTE and IMS will provide opportunities for MetaSwitch's IP-embracing MetaSphere applications suite.

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