New Turnstone offering gives remote control to RBOCs

ATLANTA--With a newly announced OEM contract with Alcatel in hand, DSL testing company Turnstone Systems this week introduced a new loop management system that lets regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs) test DSL signals from remote terminals.

The subject of competitive access to remote terminals has been hotly contested on Capitol Hill and at the FCC, with RBOCs arguing that they should not have to give competitors access to the facilities after making such significant capital investments. While many believe this has slowed DSL deployment in outlying areas, remote-terminal business should be significant soon, according to Eric Andrews, Turnstone's vice president of marketing.

"Deployment in the [remote terminals] has been slow, but we think it will accelerate as the regulatory questions get answered," Andrews said.

With this in mind, Turnstone has developed the CX40, a smaller version of its popular CX100, which provides pre-qualification testing, service verification and operational troubleshooting and maintenance capabilities from the DSLAM site.

Of course, remote terminals are built by RBOCs trying to extend DSL penetration, and Alcatel is the primary DSL gear maker for Verizon Communications, BellSouth and SBC Communications.

"As we focused on the ILEC PTT space, Alcatel is clearly the dominant player," he said. "RBOCs are more inclined to be happy with us if they know we have an Alcatel behind us.

In addition to the CX40, Turnstone is introducing a T100 card for the CX100 that effectively provides remote TDR testing-typically done with a truck roll by a technician using a handheld testing device--for 18,000 feet from the point of demarcation, Andrews said.
Donny Jackson is News Editor for Telephony. He can be reached at donny_jackson@intertec.com.