• Arris joins MoCA
By Mike Robuck
Arris has signed on as a contributor-level member of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA).
MoCA is an open, industry-driven initiative promoting the distribution of digital video and entertainment through existing coaxial cable in the home. MoCA technology provides the backbone for whole-home entertainment networks of multiple wired and wireless products.
“Our cable and broadband access customers insist on standards-based technologies that simplify the deployment of the connected home, and MoCA is the most comprehensive standards body for delivery of HD and multimedia content,” said Arris CTO Ken Wright. “Our vision is one of voice, video and data traveling over integrated broadband networks to and around the home. The convergence of multimedia over one common IP platform will allow service providers to offer differentiated services and many new consumer-friendly applications.”
• TWCBC Partner Program adds TBI as sales agent
By Traci Patterson
The Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC) Partner Program has added Telecom Brokerage Inc. (TBI) to its roster of sales agents, value-added resellers (VARs) and systems integrators.
TBI will sell TWCBC’s portfolio of communications services to customers in the small- and medium-size business (SMB) and enterprise markets.
As the Partner Program continues to evolve, TWCBC said that it is particularly interested in adding agents that specialize in broadband sales to the enterprise market, given the strength of the company’s metro Ethernet and dedicated IP services.
• Verizon expands FiOS, offers new wireless service for small biz
By Traci Patterson
Consumers in Taunton, Mass., now have access to Verizon’s FiOS TV service. Taunton is among 71 Massachusetts communities where the telco’s TV service is being offered.
Additionally, Verizon’s small-business customers will now be able to get wireless voice with unlimited calling between a Verizon Wireless phone number and up to five wireline phone numbers for a low monthly cost.
The new Verizon Wireless option is available to customers with Verizon Freedom for Business unlimited long-distance service.
• Qwest names Miller VP of eBusiness operations
By Traci Patterson
Qwest announced that Lowell G. Miller will join the company in the newly created position of VP for eBusiness operations.
Miller joins Qwest from Frontier, where he directed the transformation of the airline’s Web site into a growth engine for the company.
Qwest’s residential customers can shop for and purchase all services on Qwest.com, including Qwest’s fiber optic Internet service. And small- and medium-size businesses can choose voice and data solutions online. Customers can also chat live with a Qwest representative.
• GCI chooses Turin’s Traverse platform for new biz Ethernet services
By Traci Patterson
GCI, Alaska’s largest telecom provider, has deployed Turin Networks’ Traverse Multiservice Transport Switch to launch new business Ethernet service offerings, including private line (E-Line) services for high-speed point-to-point transport and multipoint transparent LAN (E-LAN) services.
GCI first installed Turin’s Traverse platform to light a redundant, 1,700+-mile transoceanic OC-192/10G network connecting Anchorage, Alaska, and Seattle. GCI recently expanded its relationship with Turin Networks by deploying Traverse systems to deliver Ethernet services throughout the Anchorage metropolitan area; other expansions, including communities as far north as Prudhoe Bay, are currently underway.
“Our business customers require high-speed Ethernet connectivity that offers increased bandwidth flexibility without compromising reliability or security,” said Shawn Fitzpatrick, director of transport and data at GCI. “We selected Turin’s Traverse platform to deliver our new Ethernet services because it provides a versatile and carrier-grade solution that allows us to leverage our existing transport infrastructure to deliver a broad portfolio of business Ethernet services.”
• Exfo’s test module approved by Tier-1 NSP in Americas
By Traci Patterson
Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering’s FTB-8130NGE Power Blazer multi-service test module has been approved by a Tier-1 network service provider (NSP) in the Americas, and the module’s test capabilities will be demonstrated at NXTcomm08 in Las Vegas next week.
Exfo said that the test module offers up to 10 Gbps test capabilities inside a compact solution for next-generation SONET/SDH/OTN, Ethernet and Fiber Channel applications, and that it has been designed with the scalability and flexibility to meet the demands of converged, next-generation IP-based networks.
The FTB-8130NGE Power Blazer is suited for multi-service transport platform (MSTP) and reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) network deployments, as well as maintenance activities. In addition, 1X/2X/4X/10X Fiber Channel testing rates are now offered on an optional basis.
More Broadband Direct:
• Damn the economy: Verizon ramping up FiOS build out
• Convert coupon program hits bumps
• Suddenlink hires Menendez, Kutz
• Arris readying for splash at SCTE Expo
• Widevine builds on content security between devices
• Nortel allies with Alvarion, shifts focus to LTE
• In-Stat: Fixed broadband ops vulnerable to losing subs to WiMAX