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Carrier Services
XO soups up Ethernet foundation for next-gen services
Prepares for VPLS and CoS service options
by Doug Allen
Tier 1 national CLEC XO Communications has been hard at work, building
up its Ethernet network infrastructure with a number of key
enhancements in preparation for next-gen Ethernet services.
Specifically, it has added new, more granular rate options that map to
a broader range of business needs and allow customers to choose
different access rates at each site; on-net fiber speeds now run at
10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 70, 200, 300, 400 or 500 Mbps. Ethernet over
copper options (based on the Hatteras Network s Ethernet platform) now
include 15 or 20 Mbps, while the technology’s distance limits extend
from 9,000 to 11,000 feet from an Ethernet-enabled central office, an
increase of 18 percent.
More significantly, these enhancements position XO to
offer value-added, any-to-any, multi-site Ethernet services such as
VPLS (an any-to-any enhanced Layer 2 service that allows customers to
maintain control over IP routing tables), and Ethernet with Class of
Service. Both are set for rollout next year.
Currently, XO uses its fiber, Ethernet over copper (also called
mid-band Ethernet, using bonded copper pairs and/or TDM circuits: see
XO turns to copper for national Ethernet access push) and fixed broadband wireless LMDS infrastructure to reach almost four million commercial buildings in 75 major metropolitan markets. Key target
markets include healthcare, education, government and finance
verticals.
When running over XO’s 18,000 inter-city route miles, and
almost one million fiber miles of metro networks, Ethernet speeds
range from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps. XO’s fixed wireless broadcasts from 10
Mbps to 155 Mbps across 36 major metropolitan markets. The new speeds
are currently available in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis,
New York, San Jose, Seattle, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C; the
remaining markets will come online next year. However, XO has only
upgraded 260 of its 950 CoS for mid-band Ethernet service so far.
“Although XO has increased the distance supported by its service, the
carrier has been slow to expand the number of central offices that can
support its mid-band Ethernet offer,” writes Cindy Whelan, senior
analyst at Current Analysis, in a recent intelligence report.
“…Although Ethernet services are gathering steam, this market is
still small when compared to legacy data services such as frame relay
and ATM,” continued Whelan. “Carrier Ethernet is growing fast, but it
does not yet represent a large percentage of the overall business
services market. A number of other carriers offer optical and mid-band
Ethernet services, and VPLS is an emerging technology that a few
carriers offer or plan to offer. XO’s enhancements make the carrier
another alternative for enterprises in markets where its new services
are being made available.”
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