Fibernetics, a Canadian-based CLEC that serves consumers and business customers, is enhancing its SMB product set with a new Ethernet over Copper (EoC) product set.
Offered through its Fibernetics Business Services (FBS) division, the new service is set on challenging other local CLECs and incumbent service providers for the SMB dollar, will deliver between 2-50 Mbps.
To deliver the new EoC service, Fibernetics is leveraging Overture Networks HN4000 and HN400 EoC products that it recently added to its portfolio through its acquisition of Hatteras Networks.
Initially, Fibernetics has built out the EoC service in Ontario market leveraging copper loops in three Bell Canada incumbent COs in what's known as the tri-cities area that includes Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, Ontario.
Chris Lehman, vice president, Business Services, Fibernetics, which began its life as a long-distance voice reseller for the residential market, said its foray into business grew out of the need to leverage unused network capacity from its residential network.
"A lot of our network utilization was really busy and built out for those residential customers and we had a lot of unused capacity during business hours so we started looking at technology and what businesses were looking for," he said. "Similar to how we innovated in the residential market, we developed some high value type products for business customers and EoC fit perfectly with that strategy to provide relatively low cost high value to the end customer compared to what was competitively available in the market."
FBS has built out the EoC service in three incumbent Bell Canada COs in what's known as the Tri-City area that includes Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, Ontario.
Lehman said that EoC is one logical access foundation to deliver its proprietary Digital PBX voice service to business customers. Hosted in its core network over copper, fiber or even HFC-based facilities, Fibernetics claims its Digital PBX eliminates the business' voice line costs with one requirement that they have to purchase their respective data access from them.
"Our digital PBX offering, which is neither purely a premise-based nor a hosted solution, works exceptionally well with Ethernet over Copper," Lehman said. "While it works well with any access method, it works really well with Ethernet over Copper just in terms of being able to radically reduce a business' telecom expenses."
Already deployed in 3 COs, Fibernetics is looking to expand the service further into new markets throughout out 2011.
While Lehman could not specify how many new markets would enter, he did say that they are going to aggressively expand EoC capabilities into the 30-40 other incumbent COs in the Toronto area and other key centers throughout Canada over the next 2-3 years.
"We've experienced year-over-year rapid growth over the last 10 years, but it's really been ramping up over the last five years," he said. "We're looking to continue that growth and expand further into the incumbent facilities-based services like Ethernet over Copper in the markets we're doing business in right now."
For more:
- see the release
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