In the trenches

Cincinnati Bell has always been proud of its DSL numbers. At the end of 2004, the company's in-territory ADSL qualified lines were inching to just more than 90% of the total access lines. Penetration rates were close to 16%.

The remaining unqualified ADSL lines include about 200 small digital loop carrier (DLC) sites. To get DSL out to those , the company is using Pedestal Networks' line-powered DSLAM. The Freemont, Calif.-based vendor uses ease of installation as one of the key selling points.

Late last year, Cincinnati Bell installed a 24-port DSLAM to serve a portion of Florence, Ky. The Independent went along for the ride.

• It wasn't an overly cold morning, but Maryanna Gundal, product marketing manager for Pedestal, appears to already be missing the California warmth. I didn't want to mention that Cincinnati immediately conjures up memories of the coldest game ever played in NFL history. David Wright, the sales vice president for Pedestal, and Michael Cole, the sales engineer, don't seem to take issue. The Florence site we're going to is pretty typical of semi-rural Kentucky — not the lush rolling hills of thoroughbred country but certainly not the urban clime of Louisville. On the way, I'm warned that the area we're heading to serves Kentucky Estates, a trailer park, and adjacent areas. There's some nervous chuckling and apologies that we couldn't get a different location. No big deal, but I wonder immediately if the telco will actually be able to sell DSL there. I'm assured later that indeed people in movable housing have the desire and means to pay for high-speed Internet access.

• The DLC, which sits 23,057 feet from the central office (CO), has 610 pairs, and Cincinnati Bell already has bolted a 24-port DSLAM on one side. By the time we arrive, the holes already have been drilled for the bracket to hold a DSLAM on the other side, giving Kentucky Estates 48 available DSL lines.

• A copper pair for power and T-1s for backhaul are spliced in first, followed by DSL pairs going out of the DLC. On the trunk side, one block is dedicated to ADSL pairs, allowing the carrier to provision the service without a truck roll.

  “We've got a lot of DLCs [243 to be exact], and that saves a lot of time and cost,” said Lisa Tucker, specialist of integrated planning for Cincinnati Bell, who is very camera shy.

  The company is using a combination of vendors (Pedestal, AnyMedia, Catena or Cisco Systems) and will tailor each site based upon the number of future DSL customers using the current in-territory take rate, site environmental factors, available fiber, inter-office transport, Sonet facilities and future basic service growth.

• After splicing in the pairs, a laptop is used to complete the process, making sure there's communications and a connection with the CO and the new pairs. Total time from arrival to closing of the cabinet: 67 minutes, but take off a few for bothering the installer and asking inane questions.