There are now more than 100 customers worldwide using Actelis Networks Inc.’s Ethernet-over-copper solutions, including Qwest Communications International Inc., reports the vendor, which has been slowly revealing a handful of carriers that have adopted its products.
Actelis today announced that Silver Server GmbH in collaboration with denk-stein:net, Germany Ltd. & Co. KG has selected and deployed its MetaLIGHT platforms to extend their Ethernet services to copper-fed businesses.
Also new from Actelis today is a new DS3 uplink from its box, which allows traffic to be carried on service providers’ existing SONET network, but also to deliver Ethernet services in select areas. The company also has just announced support for WDM; the box uses one wavelength for existing services and the other to feed their Ethernet services, so providers can start delivering Ethernet service without having to upgrade their network backbones to all Ethernet.
Other recently announced Actelis customers include Easynet Netherlands, which is part of the Easynet Group, and is a leading pan-European broadband networking company; a North Carolina school district in Lee County; Microtel, which is working in the U.K. with a service provider that declines to be named, to connect more than 650 schools on an Ethernet backbone with more than 1,000 Actelis boxes; and Qwest, which is using Actelis products to extend its optical Ethernet solutions.
The terms of the Qwest deal have not been disclosed, but Yossi Saad, vice president of marketing and business development, says the carrier is using the gear to offer the same SLAs and other service parameters whether over copper or fiber connections.
The MetaLIGHT platforms allow Qwest, Silver Server and other service providers to integrate their existing networks seamlessly with the Ethernet over copper solutions, says Saad, adding that the company is not just focused on the physical, but also at the network level. “We’re not just delivering boxes,” we’re delivering more holistic solutions, he says.
He adds that Actelis gear was among the first wave of products certified by the Metro Ethernet Forum, which came out with the list of vendors this fall.
Ethernet in the first mile “today is not a niche solution,” says Saad, adding that Actelis has shipped more than 10,000 ports to date. “Service providers are building whole projects on EFM over copper.”
