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Carrier Services
XO turns to copper for national Ethernet access push
Twisted pair enables CLEC to fill in the fiber availability gap
by Doug Allen
The Ethernet WAN access market is constrained today by the lack of
fiber available to business locations. Only 15 percent of US businesses with 20
employees or more enjoy fiber access, constraining the overall market
and forcing both providers and end-users to seek alternative high-
bandwidth access methods. Thus, service availability and fiber network
footprint are key differentiators for providers giving local/long distance
carriers such as AT&T, Verizon Business and Qwest the bulk of these
customers seeking national coverage today. (See:
Retail Ethernet bonanza)
But that’s changing as big-pipe access alternatives come on line. Enter
XO, a CLEC with a three-prong access strategy to provide nationwide
Ethernet coverage. In addition to fiber-fed services, XO can also use
fixed broadband wireless as well as new bonded copper technologies
from Hatteras Networks to deliver Ethernet in 75 major metro markets in
the U.S. Two years ago, the number of metros it served was 37,
primarily running over fiber.
To be sure, copper and wireless transport lack fiber’s performance
punch, which can deliver from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps on a single link.
Wireless Ethernet access rates run from 10-155 Mbps in 36 metros, while
Ethernet over copper provides 10-88 Mbps, depending on the site’s
distance from the central office, across its total Ethernet footprint--75
metros. Between the three technologies, XO says it can reach over
500,000 businesses directly. (See:
XO’s Mid-Band Ethernet Bet)
Most of the CLEC’s Ethernet access focus has been on Ethernet over
copper technology, since copper is the most widely-available means of
transport. According to Mathew Alexander, senior product manager for
XO, the CLEC is already running Ethernet over copper from 260
nationwide Local Serving Offices (LSOs). From that number, 110 LSOs
were Ethernet/copper-enabled based on customer demand, while 150
LSOs were pre-chosen to deploy the new service.
XO will continue to focus on these higher-demand markets where demand is greatest, using
Ethernet over copper to get a foot in the customer’s door while further
establishing an Ethernet services beachhead with its broader “we-go-
anywhere” fiber/wireless/copper strategy. In terms of service availability,
XO is opting to push for deeper market penetration, primarily through
copper access, rather than further expand its national footprint.
So does XO’s triple-threat access model place it solidly in the Tier 1
camp, with juggernauts like AT&T and Verizon Business? Not quite.
Although XO delivers Ethernet services over SONET for greater
protection, redundancy, and QoS, it does not yet offer switched
Ethernet services such as Virtual Private Line (VPL) or Virtual Private LAN
Service (VPLS).
Instead, XO’s current Ethernet offering serves as an on-ramp to IP
services like IP/MPLS VPNs and Direct Internet Access (DIA). Verizon
Business (with 145 metros) and AT&T (more than 100 cities) can target
a wider swath of potential customers, although it should be noted the
number of metros covered does not equate to number of businesses
reached. Finally, XO does not offer sub-10 Mbps Ethernet rates to avoid
cannibalizing T1 services. AT&T and Verizon Business face a similar
business conflict. Out of the large incumbents, only AT&T has been
actively rolling out sub-10 Mbps Ethernet to reach the Small to Medium
Business (SMB) market.
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