XO finds demand for higher Ethernet speeds

Businesses are asking for higher Ethernet speeds than originally predicted, leading XO Communications to launch service offerings in the 15 Megabit per second and 20 Mb/s range, XO said today. As it fine-tunes its Ethernet-over-copper offering, XO also will be realigning resources to meet demand and looking to use its broadband wireless network to provide backhaul services to some buildings.

“When we started deploying Ethernet over copper, we were told to expect demand in the 2 Mb/s to 4 Mb/s and 8 Mb/s range,” said Matthew Alexander, XO’s senior product manager of Ethernet services. “But we get very few requests for sub-10 Mb/s. As we’ve moved up into the enterprise market, the lower end, we are finding many more requests for 10 Mb/s and up.”

The higher-speed services will be available beginning in July, Alexander said. They will target smaller enterprise locations as well as larger SMB sites “where companies don’t want to pay for a construction build but are willing to pay for the higher speed service if we can get it to them,” Alexander said. The only limit to doing that, he added, is the availability of copper loops capable of supporting the higher speed Ethernet offering.

At the same time, XO is “fine-tuning” its deployment of the Hatteras Networks gear it uses to offer Ethernet over copper, having found some local serving offices have extensive demand and some have almost none. Using Atlanta as an example, Alexander said there is growing demand in the Alpharetta area but very little to none in the south and central parts of the city. As a result, XO will shift the Hatteras gear into areas where demand is greater.

“There are about 40 [central offices] where we have five or more Hatteras boxes deployed today,” Alexander said.

By looking at buildings that are within the line-of-sight range of its broadband wireless services, XO can extend the reach of its Ethernet offering and use the Hatteras gear within the building to distribute the higher speed service, Alexander said. Determining which buildings can and should be served will be part of this summer’s fine-tuning process, he added.