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And the mid-band played on |
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Tuesday, 24 April 2007 |
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Ethernet over copper broadband increasing its fan base…
Two more US service providers have now committed to the broadband copper local loop and backhaul technology generally known as mid-band Ethernet. In the case of optical network operator LS Networks the deal is a new departure. In the case of business and carrier service provider XO Communications the deal is (much?) more of the same. In both cases the supplier beneficiary is Hatteras Networks.
Adding to its existing state-wide Ethernet service, LS Networks will now offer Ethernet First Mile (EFM) access to small to medium sized Oregon businesses. The mid-band Ethernet service – dubbed ‘CitySpeed Ethernet’ – is intended to go where the company’s fibre hasn’t gone and/or can’t go. “While LS Networks is well known for our fibre solutions, it is not always cost-effective for the enterprise business space. Hatteras Networks’ technology has enabled an alternate solution to bring the value of our services to a broader base of customers,” avers LS Networks’ president and ceo Michael Weidman.
XO Communications, already onboard the mid-band Ethernet train with the selection and roll-out of Hatteras gear last year, has now signed a ‘multi-million dollar’ agreement with the vendor, standardising on the HN4000 and HN400 EFM platforms to expand the reach of its Ethernet services footprint in 60 metropolitan markets.
As well as LS Networks and XO Communications other service providers that are understood to be currently commercialising or trialling mid-band Ethernet technology, or that are apparently contemplating purchasing the technology from the like of Hatteras and rival Actelis Networks, are AT&T, BellSouth, BT, COLT, Easynet, Finnish data group Finnet, T-Com in Hungary, Norway’s Telenor, and CenturyTel and TDS Telecom in the USA.
John Williamson
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