Netopia shines on

Netopia had its day in the sun last week with the announcement of a 14-month contract to provide DSL routers to Covad Communications. Netopia also unveiled high-speed DSL routers and introduced backup and recovery options for existing routers.

"We have built a reputation among ISPs with our range of products and core reliability," said Barbara Tien, director of product marketing for Netopia. Because DSL services are young and customers are unsure of reliability, it's important that the equipment works, Tien said.

Covad plans to extend its DSL broadband services to 100 additional metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) by the end of 2000 with Netopia's equipment. Covad already serves 51 MSAs in the U.S.

Covad selected Netopia because of the scalability and reliability of their products, said Michael Rees, product manager at Covad.

With built-in and optional features, the DSL routers "give customers an upgrade path," Rees said. Covad also was interested in Netopia's recent purchase of StarNet Technologies for voice over DSL, he added.

Netopia also unveiled routers that enable "higher speeds at longer distances," Tien said.

Customers can expect DSL at speeds greater than T-1 because of the company's new DSL bonding technology, which combines the bandwidth of up to four DSL circuits into a single virtual data pipe for speeds greater than 3 Mb/s.

Adding to its network expansion plan, Covad agreed to work with Fujitsu Network Services to install backbone equipment at more than 40 new hub sites. By building racks of Covad's equipment, Fujitsu will help Covad deploy services much faster, said Bill Fletcher, national accounts manager for Fujitsu.