Interfaces add muxing efficiency

ADC Kentrox has added T-3, E-3 and OC-3 interfaces to its MagnumPlus broadband access multiplexer to enable carriers to support high-speed connections from the edge of their networks to the core.

MagnumPlus now offers standard interfaces that interexchange carriers and value-added network service providers need in a high-speed multiplexer, said John Coons, principal analyst at Dataquest, San Jose.

The multiplexer can be deployed in carrier networks as a feeder node or as an interface for transparent local area network services. As a feeder node, the multiplexer would be installed at the edge of a carrier's network to backhaul primary rate ISDN, frame relay or asynchronous transfer mode traffic to the central office, said Wendy Campenella, program manager at ADC Kentrox, Portland, Ore.

Teleport Communications Group is using the MagnumPlus to offer its customers native Ethernet and token ring transparent LAN services, said Joe Schwartz, data services products manager at TCG. The company's network has 250 devices.

TCG is also using OnStream Networks' BMX broadband multiplexer in its network but primarily uses the ADC Kentrox multiplexer to support its transparent LAN services. OnStream, Larscom and Digital Link all make devices that compete in the

T-3 to OC-3 multiplexer market with MagnumPlus, but OnStream's BMX is the strongest competitor from a features and price standpoint, Campenella said. ADC Kentrox's multiplexer is aggressively priced, starting at $10,000, Coons said. "They should be able to expand the MagnumPlus customer base beyond the [regional holding companies and competitive access providers]," he said.