FAIRPORT, N.Y. – August 8, 2011-PAETEC Holding Corp. (NASDAQ GS: PAET), a national competitive provider of communications solutions, today announced that it has successfully provisioned high-rate Ethernet services in excess of 200 megabits per second (Mbps) via its advanced Ethernet-over-Copper (EoC) network. Using industry leader Overture Network’s Carrier Ethernet edge and aggregation solutions, PAETEC’s EoC network provides customers with an attractive addition to its wide portfolio of access media including fiber optics, fixed wireless, and copper.
The 200 Mbps EoC service currently utilized by a prominent web marketing company to connect its newest state-of-the-art datacenter to the Internet. As a result, additional speed can be rapidly provisioned to accommodate future growth and expansion.
“With more enterprises taking advantage of emerging technologies like cloud computing, data streaming, and server virtualization, the need for dependable, high-speed Ethernet service delivery is rapidly accelerating,” said Clint Heiden, president of national accounts and fiber services, PAETEC. “By leveraging the latest EoC advancements, we’re able to meet increasing customer demand for robust bandwidth volumes at a fraction of the cost of other media.”
EoC utilizes multiple bonded copper pairs in the same conduit to reach businesses where fiber optic facilities are either not available or cost prohibitive. Advances in technology have allowed both increases in data speeds and distances from the aggregation equipment when utilizing traditional copper wires, making solutions like EoC to become more attractive options for businesses.
PAETEC’s expansive footprint encompasses business customers in 86 of the 100 top metropolitan service areas in the U.S. With one of the nation’s largest integrated EoC, fiber, and fixed wireless networks, it offers an array of cost-effective retail and wholesale Ethernet solutions ranging in speeds from 1 Mbps to 10 Gbps.
“By delivering the innovative, next-generation services that enterprise and wholesale customers have come to expect from a world-class service provider, PAETEC is outpacing competitors and differentiating itself in a crowded marketplace,” said Kevin Sheehan, president, Overture Networks. “The addition of 200 Mbps service and an unwavering commitment to superior service quality and reliability puts PAETEC in the vanguard of Ethernet solutions providers. Overture is proud to be among its most trusted technology partners.”
How much of the EoC circuit is actually copper, and how much active gear is there between the customer premise and the CO? How many pairs does this tech need?
I'm going to hazard a guess that four-pair bonded VDSL2 could be used (is it used in this solution?) to provide the full 200 Mbps symmetric over ~3300 feet of copper, but I'm at a loss if distances are greater…
Looks like they'd have to use an HN6100 at each end to get the pair-bonding muscle (15 Mbps per pair) to pull this off. If my math is correct they have to bond at least 14 pairs to get the 200 Mbps…that can be done with one HN6100 line card but that's a LOT of copper. Plus if the signal needs repeating two LPM8s or seven repeaters would be required.
Sounds like a lot of equipment and lots of points of failure to degrade or destroy a 200 Mbps connection. But hey, PAE…er…Windstream is making enough off this connection to pay off the equipment in a few months I'm sure, even accounting for renting all those pairs and rackspace from whoever the ILEC is.