SureWest Communications has raised the high-speed bar with a tier that offers symmetrical speeds of 20 Mbps. SureWest is marketing the tier for $89.95 a month, offering it initially in “selected” areas of Sacramento, Calif. that have fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks, including Natomas, Carmichael and the areas of Lincoln and Elk Grove. The company already sells […]
Alcatel adds GPON to fiber menu
Alcatel is complementing its BPON-based fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) portfolio with a platform based on more advanced GPON technology. Alcatel said its 7342 ISAM FTTU Gigabit Passive Optical Network system will push out subscriber data rates of 200 Mbps and higher, and fiber optic facility rates of up to 2.5 Gbps. It can support more than 2,000 […]
JDS Uniphase sheds analog cable unit
JDS Uniphase Corp. took another step toward its goal of divesting assets not core to its overall strategy Tuesday by selling its analog cable television and RF-over-fiber businesses to EMCORE. EMCORE will pick up JDSU divisions that generated revenues of roughly $20 million over the previous four quarters. On the financial end, EMCORE paid JDSU […]
Adelphia preps ‘Extreme’ tier
New York — Despite a pending deal that will split up the nation’s fifth-largest MSO, Adelphia Communications is preparing to raise the bar with a pair of “Extreme” cable modem service tiers. Speaking here at a CableLabs-sponsored media briefing, Adelphia Chief Technology Officer and SVP of Engineering & Technology Marwan Fawaz said the company plans […]
Arcwave adds cable sales muscle
Arcwave Inc., a provider of wireless DOCSIS extension gear, has appointed cable sales vet Michael Allen to the post of vice president of worldwide sales and support. Allen has sales experience at firms such as ADC Telecommunications, GI/Motorola and NEC America. He also served as vice president of global sales and service for Pacific Broadband […]
BroadLight shines on GPON, Siemens goes with BPON
Two fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) vendors chipped in Monday with platforms that use two different technologies. BroadLight Inc. unveiled a GPON-based silicon system, while Siemens Communications went with more traditional BPON technology. For its part, BroadLight introduced a GPON system featuring the BL2000, a BPON System-on-Chip for ONT (optical network terminal) equipment. The full system, which will […]
VDSL on the road to 7 M subs
Thanks to planned fiber-to-the-neighborhood rollouts, VDSL technology will reach nearly 7 million subs worldwide by year-end, a 90 percent increase from 2004. That forecast, courtesy of IMS Research, comes as FTTN buildouts “rejuvenate” VDSL and give the technology the opportunity to penetrate a “saturated” ADSL market. “There will be a substantial time lag before operators […]
FTTH maintains growth path
The deployment of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) technology has shot up 83 percent since October 2004, according to a triad of fiber organizations. The data – served up by the FTTH Council, Fiber Optic Communities of the United States (FOCUS) and Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) – also shows that FTTH reaches 398 communities in 43 states. The […]
Rogers acquisition to ‘jumpstart’ voice plans
Rogers Communications said its C$330 million (U.S. $264 million) acquisition of Call-Net Enterprises will hasten the company’s foray into primary line telephony services. Call-Net, a facilities-based provider based in Canada, markets telecom services to consumers, businesses and governments. Call-Net, owner of Sprint Canada, operates a 14,000-route-kilometer fiber network, and 150 central office co-location points, including […]
HPNA 3.0 gets ITU nod
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has standardized the HomePNA 3.0 specification, clearing the way for a home networking technology designed to pump out data rates as high as 240 Mbps. Recent field tests have shown HomePNA 3.0 to handle an average data rate of 107 Mbps. The standard, which uses traditional copper phone lines, also […]