TelePacific introduces 220 Mbps EoC service

TelePacific on Wednesday announced that it is doubling its current 100 Mbps Ethernet over Copper (EoC) data rates to 200 Mbps for customers it serves in its California and Nevada markets via its Enhanced Ethernet over Copper (EEoC) access ecosystem.

The CLEC said its EEoC product combined multiple bonded copper pairs to provide the higher bandwidth as a foundation for Ethernet private line, SIP Trunking, Internet access, MPLS and VPLS VPN services.

Having an expanded EoC offering speaks to the fact that while fiber is the soup du jour for delivering Ethernet services, the reality is that fiber isn't everywhere nor is it economical to build everywhere.

According to Vertical Systems Group, fiber penetration for the U.S. business market increased to 36.1 percent in 2012, up from 31.8 percent in 2011. Although this growth is encouraging, it still leaves about 64 percent of buildings without a fiber connection.

EoC can address commercial buildings with 20 or more employees that are looking for higher speeds and flexibility that they can't get from deploying multiple T1 circuits.

TelePacific has made progress in deploying EoC in recent years. Its EEoC services are available from 247 of its EoC-enabled local serving offices (LSOs) in California and Nevada. In 2013, TelePacific expects to expand its EoC service to 284 LSOs during the first half of this year.

While California and Nevada are its two main markets, the CLEC is expanding its Texas operations via its Tel West Network Services Corp. subsidiary. The CLEC purchased Tel West in 2011 as a way to bolster its presence in the Texas market.

EoC has also been a big focus for Tel West. TelePacific's Texas agents are selling its EoC services via 145 wire centers in Texas. These agents will soon be able to sell other pieces of its parent's portfolio, including its SIP trunking and dynamic voice and data services, hosted PBX and 1Net MPLS VPN solutions.

With Tel West's operations and agent program integrated into TelePacific, the CLEC now covers six of the 10 most populated business markets: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. In Texas, TelePacific can effectively become a key challenger to other CLECs like Alpheus Communications, which has made the DASH (Dallas-Austin-San Antonio-Houston) market a key focus.

Having acquired Tel West and other smaller CLECs like Telekenex and data center provider OCiX, the logical question about TelePacific is what their next move will be in Texas, and whether they will penetrate other markets like the Northeast via acquisitions of other service providers.

Possible acquisitions include CLECs like Texas-based Alpheus and New York-based Broadview, which completed its financial restructuring in Nov. 2012 after securing a $25 million bankruptcy-exit financing loan earlier that year.

For more:
- see the EoC release
- and the Texas expansion release

Related articles:
TelePacific establishes Texas market presence via Tel West acquisition
TelePacific to offer SmartVoice line on a nationwide basis
TelePacific establishes new channel partnership with Outreach Technology
TelePacific acquires Tel West, Telekenex and OCiX
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