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Carrier Services
Embarq: A Practical-Minded Broadband Approach
2007 Will Focus On Network Expansion, New Services
by Sean Buckley
Whether it’s digital voice switching, fiber optics, or more recently packet-
voice switching, Embarq has always prided itself on being an innovator
on emerging technologies, and DSL is no different.
Embarq’s spirit of innovation, however, is coupled with a sense of
practicality that goes back to its roots as the Brown Telephone Company.
“Our approach is to build out the right thing that makes good business
sense with leading edge technology — but not bleeding edge,” says Jim
Hansen, senior vice president of network services for Embarq.
From the looks of it, Embarq’s practical broadband strategy is paying off.
With over 77 percent of its consumer and business lines already
broadband enabled, Embarq reached its one-millionth DSL customer
milestone in mid-December. This comes only months after the
independent ILEC announced that it converted its one-millionth customer
to packet voice switching.
However, the company is not content to rest on its laurels. Hansen says
Embarq will launch a number of enhancements in 2007 that will, in effect,
add more value than just the pipe itself. These include increasing the
upstream capacity of the DSL lines with 10-Mbps downloads in various
markets, off-site storage, and an online video service called Video Clicks.
Coupled with its new service enhancements, Embarq is intent on
improving the performance of its DSL network and expanding the
geographic reach of its DSL service into areas it was not cost effective
to reach in the past. This will not be done with new technologies per se,
but rather a focus on what Hansen calls “fundamentals.”
“It involves the fact that several of our suppliers have come up with
more cost-effective terminal devices, smaller DSLAMs that make it
economical for us to go into those places,” said Hansen. “We’re also
looking at various way to improve the transport equation, deploying more
copper bonding solutions, increasing the amount of fiber we have in the
field to give us more bandwidth to increase the speeds.”
As part of that drive, Embarq will deploy several hundred Calix and
Entrisphere next-gen DLC (digital loop carrier) platforms in Greenfield
markets while in Brownfield markets they will deploy traditional DSLAMs
with ADSL2+.
While the goal is to drive the packet infrastructure as close to the
customer as they can, Hansen advocates a targeted approach to
network upgrades.
“We can’t make heads or tails out of the wholesale ‘take out every piece
of your old equipment and put in new equipment’ [approach],” he
said. “When we have a trigger or a new customer need or exhaust, we
put in place as much IP and as much broadband as we can. That’s where
you balance between what meets the customer’s needs and what
provides future proofing, while providing affordability.”
Beyond ADSL2+, Embarq sees the promise of new technologies such as
VDSL2, DSM (dynamic spectrum management) and FTTP (fiber to the
premises). Currently, Embarq is engaged in a VDSL2 trial in Gardner, Kan.
and likes what it sees so far.
Going forward, Embarq plans to use VDSL2 to provide higher speed DSL
offerings such as 10 Mbps, while in dense markets such as Las Vegas it
will continue to examine the use of FTTP.
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