Elastic Networks Inc. a spin-off of Nortel Networks Ltd. may have cracked the DSL nut with a unique Ethernet-based technology that will offer data rates of up to 100mbps over single, unconditioned copper pairs at reaches of up to 21,000 feet and beyond.
The technology, called EtherLoop, can support a variety of services, including high-speed Internet, other data services and video over the same copper pair as lifeline voice services. More than 70 carriers are using the first generation of the product, which offers bidirectional 6mbps rates, according to Elastic. However, the company declined to disclose the number of units shipped or subscribers served by its systems.
Now the company is readying next-generation versions of the product. Elastic will announce a 10mbps version next month and a 100mbps version, called EtherLoop 2, is expected to hit the streets next year.
Unlike DSL, which always puts signals down a line even if it has no packets to send, EtherLoop only sends signals when an end user requests it. The rest of the time, it acts as a spectral analyzer to sense potential interference with other services in the copper binder, explains Phil Griffith, Elastic's vice president of sales and marketing. If it senses interference, EtherLoop moves traffic to another frequency.
"DSL has lost some of its momentum due to the complexity of its deployment," Griffith notes. "A lot of it is because you need a clean [copper] pair. This should make it easier and more affordable for CLECs to do DSL, because you don't need to pay for a conditioned pair." EtherLoop also addresses the spectral compatibility issues all types of carriers face when offering multiple services in a single copper binder group, he adds, noting that the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) T1.417 has declared EtherLoop spectrally compatible without restrictions.
Griffith adds that because EtherLoop is based on Ethernet rather than ATM, the technology is simpler to provision because it doesn't require the set up of permanent virtual circuits. Plus, it enables carriers to offer Ethernet end to end. "The market has moved into the sweet spot of the technology," Griffith says, noting that the company is involved in the IEEE 802.3 effort to establish standards for Ethernet in the first mile.
"We like to view ourselves as a copper bridge to the Ethernet fiber networks," he says. For example, Hargray Communications uses Nortel's optical gigabit Ethernet gear to deliver services to most of its customers in Hilton Head, S.C., but when the services hit copper, they use Elastic's EtherLoop technology to get that extra reach.
Meanwhile, Verizon Avenue, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications Inc. focuses primarily on the residential multidwelling unit market, in the first quarter began deploying EtherLoop to provide in-building DSL, says Griffith. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but Verizon Avenue expects to use Elastic's Storm System products, based on EtherLoop technology, in its deployments in more than 31 states.
In addition, more than 500 buildings, mostly in the hospitality market, use EtherLoop today. Griffith believes the opportunity to supply data and video communications equipment and services to hotels is going to see resurgence in the near future. Specialized service providers in the hospitality space, many of which have since disappeared, created the market for high-speed Internet access for hotel guests, and some of the big telephone companies plan to capitalize on the opportunity too. "AT&T [and] Sprint are coming into this market with more long-term sustaining models. Some of them are beyond Internet services, some are focused on video-on-demand services. So I think you'll see some of that in the very near term come to fruition," he says.
Elastic also counts more than 70 independent phone companies among its customers, the largest of which is Citizens Communications Co. Citizens is using EtherLoop in West Virginia.
"We've been very successful in the independent telephone market because we run on dirty copper and long loops," explains Griffith, adding that the company markets its products as offering a reach of 21,000 feet, but that it has in several instances surpassed that reach. (DSL reach is typically in the 15,000-foot range).
Reed Nelson, vice president and general manager of Citizens Communications-West Virginia, says the company is turning up Elastic's equipment in an effort-to future proof its network. Nelson says he expects to serve several hundred customers by year's end.
Reed says that Citizens has been using traditional ADSL to offer high-speed Internet access, and the company will offer the same exact services at the same rates via the Elastic equipment.
"Elastic is another alternative for deploying DSL. We're not sure what will happen when there will be more customers on the network. We have a lot of areas served by 25-pair cable and small plant, so we needed to worry about what would happen when the plant got saturated," Nelson explains, noting that Elastic's equipment prevents interference within packed binder cable.
In addition to its carrier customers, Elastic licenses its technology to other equipment providers. Griffith says Keval On-Line Technology Development Ltd. in China is buying the company's chipsets and Hitachi Telecom (USA) Inc. plans to integrate EtherLoop technology into its HCX5000 PBX, which was recently selected for use by a large line of hotels in North America.
Nortel's decision in early June to divest itself of its remaining 46 percent stake in Elastic as part of Nortel's move to drop its own DSL activities, will help attract more outside vendors to license Elastic technology, opines Griffith.
Elastic believes its solution is unique in the market. Some other vendors are doing Ethernet over copper, but Cisco Systems Inc., as one example, is doing that based on VDSL, which is a short-reach technology with the primary application being in-building, he says. "We consider our solution more carrier-grade Ethernet," he says. "But [copper] in buildings isn't always the cleanest either, so we help those carriers deploy quickly."
| THE LINKS |
Cisco Systems Inc. www.cisco.com Citizens Communications Co. www.citizenscommunications.com Elastic Networks Inc. www.elastic.com Hargray Communications www.hargray.com Hitachi Telecom (USA) Inc. www.hitachi.com Keval On-Line Technology www.3dds.com Development Ltd. Nortel Networks Ltd. www.nortelnetworks.com Verizon Avenue www.onepointcom.com Verizon Communications Inc. www.verizon.com |
