Covad takes ADSL 2+ national

With everyone from cable companies to incumbents to other CLECs coming after its target market of small to mid-sized businesses, Covad Communications last week attempted to separate from the pack by announcing that it is delivering on its promise to offer 15 Mb/s stand-alone data services for small businesses, using the ADSL 2+ technology it has deployed in 11 major markets.

The service is aimed at what the company calls the “prosumer” market, which includes businesses with less than five employees and high-end telecommuters such as graphics designers who need the extra bandwidth. The national CLEC will be providing service at downstream rates of up to 15 Mb/s, up to 10 Mb/s down and up to 8 Mb/s, each of which has a 1 Mb/s upstream channel. Covad announced plans to deploy ADSL 2+ last summer using Samsung Telecommunications DSL gear.

Although the new services offer more downstream bandwidth than a T-1 service, they are not intended as T-1 replacements, said Anne Merkert, vice president of product marketing for Covad. “This is aimed at companies that have a high need for that bandwidth and are willing to pay for it,” she said.

These various small businesses also may be willing to compromise with lower service level agreements (SLAs), she added. “It's a matter of the right fit for speed value,” she said.

While Covad will offer SLAs on the new service, those SLAs will be comparable to what it offers on its T-1 services because those are dedicated private lines, she said.

“We are hearing from customers who are unhappy with a consumer grade of service, with no SLAs or limited SLAs and lower speeds,” Merkert said. “We also hear that people have been dissatisfied with cable modem service because it is shared, and bandwidth varies. This is a dedicated line of service with a higher speed and an SLA, and it is designed for the business market.”