TPx Communications has added 4G LTE-based connectivity to its SD-WAN toolkit, offering business customers an alternative to fiber, copper and cable-based broadband connectivity across nearly any U.S. location where cellular coverage is available.
The service provider, which launched a national SD-WAN service late last year, will offer the LTE-based service as a primary internet service option with the same QoS standards it has for its ITx WAN product line.
While TPx did not reveal who its wireless partners are to enable the wireless option, TPx is banking on the widely available 4G-LTE national cell coverage to support unlimited managed voice and data traffic, to support a standalone service offering. However, the service provider will reduce speeds after 150GB.
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TPx said it is working with one of the nation’s largest 4G-LTE network providers to deliver an average 10-20 Mbps upload and download speeds to what it says is “nearly any area of the country.” The company plans to add another of the major network providers to its service shortly to provide even deeper blanket coverage.
Offering a business-class primary connection over 4G-LTE may give TPx a near-term quick option for customers that can’t get access to a wireline broadband connection, the service provider is hardly alone in offering a LTE option for SD-WAN. Verizon, for example, offers a similar option.
This new service is part of a TPx’s set of streamlined disaster-relief offerings to rapidly set up internet connectivity in an effort to help its customers impacted by Hurricane Harvey get up and running.
TPx’s 4G-LTE adds to the broad options ITx for WAN already offers businesses. 4G-LTE is also available as an active/active supplement to an existing broadband connection that gives businesses added bandwidth and instant failover capability to prevent disaster if their main circuit goes down. Additionally, TPx’s 4G-LTE provides passive 4G-LTE failover that will keep businesses running.
Already some of TPx’s customers are tuning into this service option. TPx is in the process of turning on the LTE-based service for one of the major wineries located in Napa, California.
Jared Martin, vice president of Managed IT at TPx, said in a release that if it were not for the LTE service, the winery’s only option would be a costly fiber network build.
“We’re turning on 4G-LTE to provide primary connectivity for one of the major wineries located in the beautiful rolling hills of Napa,” Martin said. “Its only other option was a $75,000 fiber buildout to bring lines to their office in the vineyard, so their executives were more than happy to find a way to quickly gain connectivity that they could rely on to run their business.”
TPx can use the new wireless option to provide further differentiate itself in the crowded SD-WAN service segment. Following a trial of SD-WAN in six of its markets, TelePacific’s nationwide SD-WAN option became generally available for new unified communications services orders. SD-WAN will be offered as a new capability of its growing suite of UC, managed IT and managed services.