Laurel jumps on BRAS bandwagon

Laurel Networks today joined the increasingly crowded field of edge router vendors offering broadband remote access server support.

Packaged as part of a new software module for the Pittsburgh-based company's ST200 router, the new capabilities give carriers more access options, particularly DSL. Previously, the company’s routers had generally interfaced the T-1s. Additionally, the move is a change for the company in its ability to support more than business services.

“We can not only plug into any broadband access network, but also it sets up the platform as a device that can enable advanced consumer services,” said Stephen Vogelsang, co-founder and vice president of marketing for Laurel. “Prior to this launch, we didn’t have a real good way to get into the broadband network.”

The company also is touting its "service separation and blending" method that lets carriers control the speed of different services over the same DSL connection. One potential application: letting carriers offer video-on-demand service while limiting rates on lower-end DSL plans.

“We have the ability to separate traffic,” said Vogelsang. “In the U.S., the RBOCs are artificially limiting the speeds. We can eliminate that external bandwidth manager.”