TelePacific makes progress with Ethernet over Copper service roll out

TelePacific is making good on its Ethernet over Copper (EoC) promise by continuing to expand the availability to SMBs that reside in its California and Nevada markets.

Available in speed increments as low as 1 Mbps up to 20 Mbps depending on the business location from the nearest CO (central office), EoC is part of a broader Ethernet delivery strategy TelePacific is taking for its area SMB (small to medium business) customers.

David Hold, product marketing manager for TelePacific in an interview with FierceTelecom, said the value of EoC is that it provides SMBs with more options than just buying more expensive T1 circuits.

"With a T1 what you see is what you get: you get 1.5 Mbps and if you want two you double the cost, whereas with EoC you have that variable amount of bandwidth you can provide," he said.  

Ethernet over copper, however, is just one part of what Hold calls part of a three-legged stool for Ethernet.

With 52 wire centers online today, the CLEC plans to have 120 EoC Local Service Offices (LSOs) online with local ILECs by the end of Q1 2011. Ultimately, TelePacific plans to have EoC in about 200 LSOs by the end of next year.

While these deployments will give it decent Ethernet coverage in the major markets it services, TelePacific is also augmenting that effort with Ethernet over TDM (T1 and DS3) and Ethernet over Fiber to fill in the gaps it can't meet with EoC given the technology's distance limitations.

"There's always going to be those places that are outside of that 12,000 foot range where it's harder to reach and there's no distance limits with T1," Hold said. "If someone wants something that's out of range, we can do NxT1 or jump up if you need higher bandwidth to DS3."

Similar to its EoC and EoTDM strategy, TelePacific is renting fiber facilities not only from local ILECs (AT&T, Verizon) and competitive providers (tw telecom and XO) but also cable operators (Charter, Cox and Time Warner Cable).

"We have agreements with a number of fiber providers that have lit buildings around the state, which may be the LEC or in some cases the cable companies because they have got fiber installed in a lot of buildings."

 For more:
- see the release

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