Telstra unveils suite of wholesale data services

Telstra (ASX: TLS.AX) on Monday introduced a set of wholesale offerings for Australia-based customers under its new "Data Advantage" product line.

With Data Advantage, the telco is offering wholesale customers four primary products: managed leased line, Ethernet, Ethernet backhaul and point-to-point fiber services.

The managed leased line products offer a choice between either legacy SDH or an Ethernet interface. Built on a new Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) infrastructure, the new Ethernet service is available at 1,700 telephone exchanges and is also available to large capacity customers.

The new point-to-point wavelength service, which connects all of Australia's major cities and data centers, will also cover all of the government's National Broadband Network (NBN) interconnection points.

Besides an array connectivity options, another key element of the new Data Advantage portfolio is that Telstra is simplifying the ordering process with its quote tool.

Customers will be able to use the quote tool to get detailed information about wholesale service prices.

While the Data Advantage product set is new, the telco will support and offer existing data services as wholesale customers migrate to the Data Advantage product line.  

"With consumer, business and enterprise data usage increasing exponentially, our customers can now manage the data needs of their end-users and clients more easily," said Telstra Wholesale general manager for product solutions, Bryce Blacker, in a Computerworld Australia article. "They can download the Quote Tool application to their desktop and in a matter of minutes, locate the route they want to deploy and select the best service to meet their needs."

Even though the Data Advantage offering is centered on Australian-based wholesale customers, it has made a similar moves to not only expand its Ethernet reach through partners, but also improve the customer ordering interface for international retail multinational corporation (MNC) and wholesale customers. These international customers are using Telstra to expand their international operations in Australia and other countries.

Over the past three years, the service provider has been expanding its domestic and international Ethernet reach organically and through various partnerships.

Beginning in late 2009, the service provider began expanding its international Ethernet service reach across the U.S., Asia and Europe in addition to launching two new Ethernet services: Global Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) and Global Virtual Private LAN (VPLS).

Later, in January 2012, Telstra also added new Ethernet and ordering efficiencies for its MNC customers to order global Ethernet Private Line (EPL) service with Ethernet half circuits and a new 'One-Stop-Shop' (OSS) option. Like the quote tool, the 'One-Stop-Shop' (OSS) Ethernet option, which will give customers a common point to order, deliver, bill and support for Ethernet Private Line services.

Having a broader set of services and easier to use ordering tools will give Telstra another point of differentiator in the increasingly crowded Ethernet services market.

For more:
- Computerworld has this article

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