ASSIA may have made a name for itself in helping large Tier 1 carriers like AT&T (NYSE: T) get more speed and reach out of their DSL services through the advent of Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM), but it believes its wares could have a similar impact on the competitive ISP and Tier 2-3 ILEC market.
To target these industry segments, ASSIA has introduced a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) option of its Expresse DSM product. Customers will be able to view the performance of their respective DSL network and individual customer lines through a Web interface.
"In order to bring the benefit of ASSIA to the independent or regional operators, which make up a little under 3 million lines total in the U.S. or eight percent of the market, we are offering the service via the Internet through a server based in our Redwood City, Ca. location," said Dr. John Cioffi, Chairman and CEO of ASSIA, adding that "the eight percent is consistent around the world so while we're already doing this in the U.S. we're going to expand that outside the U.S. by early 2011."
Already, two customers have taken advantage of the new SaaS option: Hill Country Telephone Cooperative and competitive DSL provider Sonic.net.
For Hill Country Telephone Cooperative, the timing of the SaaS DSM option couldn't be better. The service provider is currently building out 533 miles of fiber cable that will connect about 250 digital loop carriers placed strategically to shorten HCTC's local customer loops to approximately 7,000 feet. But even with these improvements, the reality is that the performance of DSL lines can be degraded by various noise sources (i.e., appliances, crosstalk between lines and radio interference).
"ASSIA's Expresse Services helped us reduce the number of unstable lines in our network by 75%," said Delbert Wilson, General Manager at Hill Country Telephone Cooperative. "We now monitor all of our DSL customers' lines 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and problem lines are identified and potentially repaired automatically. At Hill Country, ASSIA has helped upgrade our DSL network operations and deliver a superior customer broadband experience."
In related news, ASSIA has introduced Expresse Release 2.1. Included in the new release is support for VDSL2, pair bonding, DSM level 2, in addition to a power management module. ASSIA claims that the new power management module can save up to $500,000 per year in energy costs in a 1 million line network-an element Cioffi says immediately resonates with customers.
"What happens is a significant amount of power with the telcos is consumed in their Central Offices and the DSLAMs, which are now interfacing millions of customers are the big culprits of power consumption," Cioffi said. "What we do is manage that power consumption and we can save half a watt a line, so if you have millions of lines that can be worth a substantial amount of money, but it's consistent with a lot of Green initiatives."
For more:
- see the release
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