Agile to boost IP-based broadband network

Adelaide-based Agile Communications has contracted Ericsson to provide an Ethernet-based DSL access solution for the expansion of the wholesale carrier's IP-based broadband network.

The deal will see Ericsson supply Agile with its Ethernet DSL Access (EDA) solution, which includes one of the world's smallest DSL Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs). Agile did not disclose the cost of the deal.

Ericsson Australia strategic product manager for broadband, Colin Goodwin, said the scalable EDA solution gives Agile the ability to put together its own cost-effective, modular network and tailor it for both metro and rural areas.

While equipment counts for a proportion of the costs, other factors such as renting space or backhauling traffic to a metro communications centre contribute significantly to the cost of establishing a service in a rural town, Goodwin said. By using DSLAMs which utilise Gigabit Ethernet, carriers can save up to 10 times the cost of using traditional ATM-based DSLAMS, he said.

"This is because gigabit is roughly 10 times faster," he said.

The EDA solution will also give Agile the ability to take advantage of the forthcoming global ADSL2 and ADSL2+ technology standards, both of which are supported by Ericsson and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The ADSL2 standard will see the speed of ADSL services on standard copper lines increase to a maximum of 12Mbps, while the 2+ standard will push access speeds to up to 25Mbps, Goodwin said. Both also aim to increase the reach of ADSL services. "With the EDA solution, it [Agile] has the roadmap for these standards," he said.

Adelaide-based Agile's decision to employ Ericsson's modular EDA solution follows its announcement of a non-Telstra commercial broadband service to the South Australian rural town of Meningie last year. The Agile wholesale DSL service is being offered to Meningie residents through its retail partner Internode.

Commenting on the Meningie service in October, Agile managing director Simon Hackett said the carrier can cost-effectively provide broadband services to a rural customer base of as few as 20 users by employing IP-based DSLAM technology. "[Our technology] is smaller and more efficient. There's no magic going on."

Although Ericsson's DSLAMs were not used in the deployment of ADSL services to Meningie, Goodwin says its hardware will be used in the carrier's future metro and rural network implementations.

Goodwin said Ericsson is in the process of delivering the equipment to Agile now, with the first build to take place in the Adelaide metro area in Q1 this year.

Ericsson released the EDA solution globally last year and it has already been used within the Australia and New Zealand region by New Zealand carrier TelstraClear.

Although Ericsson previously sold ATM-based equipment and still supports customers using the older technology, all new installations globally are based on the IP DSLAMs, Goodwin said.

"Traditional ATM users are watching this space," he said. "It's the new network builds that are employing this IP-based technology.

"[But] the existing network is being challenged."

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