Sprint (NYSE: S) may have been a bit late to the Ethernet service party, but its latest move to expand the service to 143 domestic and 38 countries by the end of 2012 shows that the provider is serious about the segment.
This expansion effort, which includes building out existing markets and expanding into new markets, is targeted at both its businesses customers and wholesale partners.
Favoring a fiber-based network approach, the service provider has been delivering Ethernet access service for over five years. Following its initial 40-market Ethernet launch in 2007, the service provider announced it would make Ethernet available in a total of 65 new markets in September 2011.
A key point of Sprint's Ethernet offering is flexibility. Depending on market availability, business customers can choose either dedicated and aggregated speeds ranging from 2 Mbps to 1 Gbps. They can also select 18 aggregated speeds and 16 dedicated speeds to fit their own particular network needs.
Aggregated Ethernet offers an alternative to traditional TDM-based T1 or higher speed DS3 access, while Dedicated Ethernet access enables a customer to turn up the right amount of bandwidth they need with fixed-rate and fractional (burstable) billing.
At this point, the service provider's Ethernet play is focused on providing access its MPLS and Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) service sets.
However, Mike McRoberts, Director of Data & Voice Wireline Services at Sprint, said in a previous interview with FierceTelecom they are not completely ruling out the option of delivering other services including Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) and Ethernet LAN (ELAN) as they continue to build out their last mile network infrastructure.
For more:
- see the Sprint release
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