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Mobile & Wireless
Verizon Partner Solutions offers wireless Ethernet backhaul on wholesale basis
Leverages FTTH plant to support mobile backhaul traffic as well as Verizon’s LTE buildout
by Doug Allen
Verizon’s wholesale division, Verizon Partner Solutions (VPS), has thrown its hat into the wireless backhaul ring as demand for high-capacity, more flexible transport pushes the surging space into a true growth market despite badly slumping provider spending.
As a number of telco and MSO competitors make their own drive to broaden their mobile backbones (see MEF sets foundation for Ethernet-based backhaul), VPS has upped the ante by launching its own backhaul services based on Ethernet. Mobile providers can buy switched Ethernet or Ethernet over SONET services to replace lower-capacity multiple T1s and/or TDM-based microwave links, the predominant backhaul transport method of today.
The move makes sense for VPS, because it plans to make strategic use of its parent’s FiOS FTTH plant, an ongoing national buildout passing millions of homes and businesses. VPS says it will link FiOS fiber to 90 percent of Verizon Wireless cell sites throughout its ILEC footprint over the next five years, mirroring the deployment schedule for the company’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. Currently, VPS reach passes or is within reach of 85 percent of Verizon’s cell sites. Extending its fiber build to support backhaul applications is a win-win for Verizon, as it gives Verizon Wireless access to a fiber network that will support its LTE rollout, while VPS profits from wireless providers looking for more robust backhaul transport.
And not a moment too soon. Demand for mobile services is spiking, driven by a range of data applications for an increasingly nomadic group of power users and telecommuters, across a growing number of Wi-Fi and to a lesser extent WiMAX-enabled devices such as the iPhone, not to mention the burgeoning teen or “tween” market, which traffics heavily in text and picture messages. Meeting that demand requires providers to move past multiple T1 scenarios, which don’t scale well in terms of cost and scalability.
Wholesale customers should embrace the new Ethernet backhaul services, both for its simple, well-accepted equipment interface, and its granular bandwidth increments. VPS is offering a variety of speeds well-suited to mobile operators, including Ethernet over SONET (Ethernet private line) at rates of 10 Mbps, 50 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 150 Mbps, 300 Mbps, 450 Mbps, 600 Mbps and 1 Gbps; Switched Ethernet Service with 1 Mbps-10 Mbps in increments of 1 Mbps, 10 Mbps-100 Mbps in increments of 10 Mbps, and 100 Mbps-1 Gbps in increments of 100 Mbps. Other speeds may be available on a case-by-case basis. SLAs appear to be competitive, and professional services covering implementation, ongoing service, billing assurance and site negotiation are available through VPS’ new Program Management Office.
“Verizon’s Ethernet buildouts will happen over time, based on a number of variables including the number of customers that can be served from that site and the difficulty in reaching the site,” according to Cindy Whelan, a senior analyst at Current Analysis. “…The carrier plans to evaluate cell site connection opportunities on a case-by-case basis, and will base its decision to connect a cell site to its fiber network on several variables including the number of customers that can be served from that location and the importance of a site to a customer. Fiber buildouts are an expensive proposition, and VPS will want to have a strong case for return on investment before building out to a site, although operators looking to connect to sites where Verizon Wireless has a presence will perhaps see these deployments occur sooner rather than later.”
Whelan expects VPS’s move will initially have “low” impact on the wireless backhaul market “because existing T1 services still meet mobile carrier needs today… Verizon Wireless is a major mobile [provider], and mobile competitors may hesitate to sign VPS if there are cost-effective alternatives.”
VPS won’t have to look far for mobile backhaul rivals, although few will be able to offer customers a service footprint as wide as Verizon’s. In addition to CLECs such as Level 3 and independent like Fiber Tower and Lightower, the competitive landscape also includes Ethernet-based backhaul from MSOs Optimum Lightpath, RCN Metro Optical Networks and Time Warner Cable. Comcast and Cox Communications have also announced plans to jump into the market.
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