If there were any questions as to why Francisco Partners and Sequoia Capital made a “significant investment” in Data Connection (DCL) and division MetaSwitch (www.metaswitch.com), answers are likely to be found in yesterday’s earning statement. The company officially announced it made $101.8 million in its last fiscal year, with a profit of $21.1 million, a 54 percent increase over the previous year.

DCL gives credit to MetaSwitch, calling it a “significant factor” in the strong growth shown, including the MetaSwitch Class 4/5 softswitch and MetaSphere service delivery platform (SDP) and application suite. Together the two solutions represented three quarters of DCL’s total revenues. Average deployment size grew with new installations by Tier One carriers, including Cable & Wireless, Embarq, Windstream, and CenturyTel and major regional carriers such as Bresnan Communications and One Communications. Internationally, the company saw “growing traction” for MetaSwitch/MetaSphere in the Caribbean/Latin American region and had its first deployments in the Asia Pacific Region.

DCL also saw growth in its Network Protocols Division, entering into licensing agreements in North America, Europe, Israel, and the Far East. Product developments in the area included major investments in SBC, SIP, Diameter, MPLS, and IP routing technology.