The Test and Analysis Division of Trend Datalink Ltd is to distribute Tekelec Inc’s diagnostic systems in the UK, and work with the company on future joint developments. Trend Datalink is the networking division of Telemetrix Plc. For Trend, the agreement enables it to extend its product range beyond it’s basic testing equipment for checking telephone lines and private circuits. Tekelec produces products for analysing highend protocols such as Integrated Systems Digital Network and signalling system 7, its principal customers being public telephone operators. Based in Calabasas, California, it will use the agreement to expand its European revenue and establish itself in a market that is set for rapid growth, as liberalisation enables public operators to choose equipment on a more competitive basis. And Tekelec’s MGTS evaluation system for Signalling System 7 also supports the GSM or Group Speciale Mobile Protocol, soon to be used as a pan-European standard for cellular telephone networks. The announcement coincides with the launch of the Chameleon 100, a Tekelec Fibre Distributed Data Interface testing system. Trend will modify and rebadge some products for the UK and European markets, such as the Testman 705 field portable analyser. It saya that no decision has been made about Tekelec distributing Trend products in the US, saying the products are still being evaluated and that it is early days.
