IP telecommunications provider, SP Telemedia Ltd (Soul) has selected Adtran's Total Access solution for the delivery of its high speed dedicated Ethernet service in the First Mile.

With rapidly rising demand for high speed Ethernet access, and limited fibre connectivity in the market, Soul has elected to introduce its own Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) solution over copper.

Previously, the only way of providing high speed Ethernet access was either through the build of Fibre access to 3rd party Metro Ethernet Services, or through the purchase of E1 type services.

Adtran's Total Access 3010 Gigabit Ethernet Multiservice Access Platform (MSAP) enables Soul to deliver high speed Ethernet over multiple bonded copper pairs.

This represents a significant cost-saving over fibre or ATM connectivity alternatives, and allows Soul to deliver the service over its own network, rather than relying on more expensive third party wholesale solutions.

For the initial investment, Soul purchased Total Access 3010 MSAP units, with Total Access 832 and 838 network termination units (NTUs).

The Total Access 3010 provides full DSLAM functionality, serving up to 176 ports in less than 26 cm of rack space.

Adtran's business development manager, Greg Hankinson, said the EFM over Copper solution is just one flavour of its Carrier Ethernet portfolio, which also includes fibre based SDH and RPR access.

"It matches Soul's need for providing a true carrier-class and scaleable On-Net Ethernet solution. We were also pleased to meet Soul's very aggressive rollout ahead of schedule," he said.

"The system is widely deployed in multiple carrier environments around the world and provides services from ADSL to VDSL2, with Gigabit Ethernet network connectivity. With the TA832 and 838 providing eSHDSL endpoints, Adtran has equipped Soul with a complete end-to-end solution for high speed Ethernet delivery."

Soul head of products, Craig Levy, said although demand for high speed Ethernet is gaining momentum, only 30 percent of Australian organisations have access to the fibre connectivity that was previously the most favoured option.

Levy said this represents an enormous opportunity for Soul and its customers.

The Soul network is a fully converged video, voice and data IP-based network with distributed switching throughout Australia, providing alternative, competitive broadband infrastructure to regional Australia with significant cost savings.