Efficient, AFC enter ADSL fray: Partnership weds Efficient's modems, AFC's digital loop carriers

Efficient Networks and Advanced Fibre Communications are entering a strategic alliance to market an end-to-end asymmetrical digital subscriber line solution to carriers.

Dallas-based Efficient is best known for making customer premises equipment for cell-based data transmission. AFC is an established provider of digital loop carriers (DLCs) for 300- to 400-line nodes. Its customers include GTE, Sprint, Alltel, Ameritech and Pacific Bell.

With the deal, Efficient is rolling out a new modem, the Speedstream 5030, which rounds out its customer premises ADSL line. The company now has both carrierless amplitude/phase modulation and discrete multitone modems, and AFC's DLCs will support both protocols.

Efficient has been preparing to sell ADSL equipment to carriers for about 18 months and decided that it didn't want to develop network equipment, said Greg Langdon, Efficient's marketing vice president. By developing its modems for interoperability with AFC's third generation DLC, Efficient has covered that base.

"We became convinced that the DLC solution goes a long way toward overcoming barriers to carrier entry to the ADSL market," Langdon said.

AFC hopes to leverage its installed base of DLCs to move Efficient's modems into carriers' networks, said Ryan Koonce, AFC's business development manager.

"The DLC solution is an integral part of the carrier DSL solution," he said. DLCs allow carriers to extend ADSL service to more customers than a central office-based ADSL solution. AFC's newest DLCs allow carriers to deploy ADSL by simply adding line cards.

The Efficient/AFC partnership also will expand its potential customer base when AFC introduces DLCs for up to 2000 lines later this year. Its current models can handle only 762 lines.

The alliance gives Efficient a strong avenue into the DSL service provider market, said John Hunter, broadband analyst for TeleChoice.

The partnership will compete with giants such as Lucent Technologies, Alcatel, Northern Telecom and DSC Communications, but it should do well, especially with regard to moving Efficient's products into the carrier space, Hunter said.

Efficient Networks and Advanced Fibre Communications are combining their respective links to build an ADSL delivery chain they hope will be attractive to carriers.

Efficient's links: CPE Data networking expertise DMT and CAP modems

AFC's links: Digital loop carriers Telco sales expertise Higher DLC capacity to expand customer base