By Paula Bernier

XO Communications is using the HN4000 and HN400 networking platforms from Hatteras Networks (Booth 1108) to extend its metro Ethernet service offerings to the mid-band Ethernet services market segment. XO has an existing 10mbps Ethernet service running over fiber; the Hatteras gear will enable them now to extend that over copper as well.

Gary Bolton, vice president of marketing and product management at Hatteras, said that about 1 million businesses over the next five years will move from T1 legacy services to Ethernet services, which will total more than $8 billion annually in U.S. service revenue. These services can run $500 to $2,000 for 2-20megs – the mid-band sweet spot.

But only about 10 percent of U.S. business have fiber to them, so service providers need to find another way to reach both small businesses as well as large organizations like hospitals that need to connect with clinics and other locations that are not reached by fiber, said Bolton. “So what we enable is for businesses not to worry about what facilities are pulled to their premises,” he said.

In other news from Hatteras this week, the company also announced CT Communications of South Carolina will launch mid-band Ethernet services over copper. And earlier this month, Hatteras announced MTS Allstream is using Hatteras Ethernet gear to backhaul transport from wireless cell tower sites for 1xEV-DO.

MTS Allstream is deploying the Hatteras HN400 customer premises platform at the cell site and backhauling the traffic to HN4000 Ethernet platforms already deployed in its central offices. Bolton explained the solution gives MTS 45mbps of resilient backhaul over copper. Over the same twisted pair that is carrying T1 services, MTS is doing wireless backhaul, said Bolton, and even if MTS loses a pair it will never lose service since the Hatteras solution is based on copper bonding.

The Canadian service provider began deploying Hatteras Networks HN4000s and HN400s this past summer to support the rollout of metro Ethernet services to business customers. This integration into existing HN4000 infrastructure enabled MTS Allstream to further leverage the platforms’ Layer-2 switching capabilities to segregate and manage 1xEV-DO mobile wireless backhaul traffic and its traditional metro Ethernet business services.

“North American wireless carriers are spending over $2 billion of their opex budget on cell tower backhaul, and that number is growing,” said Frank Dzubeck, president of Communications Network Architects. “Video, mobile broadband service assurance and next-gen IMS-based IP applications are significantly driving up the bandwidth and expandability requirements for cell tower backhaul. Backhaul using older generation T1-based systems are no longer good enough.”

Bolton said the fact that Hatteras now has a national carrier (XO), an incumbent telco (MTS) and a small incumbent (CTC) within its customer ranks is a testament to the scalability of its products.

In another effort to prove its products’ scalability, Hatteras at COMPTEL is demonstrating it can deliver 200mbps Ethernet over 40 pairs of bonded copper. Hatteras gets the 200mbps by placing two HN4000’s back-to-back, one at the central office and one at the customer premises. Hatteras also has the ability to stack five HN4000s into a virtual node to bond 200 pairs of copper into one connection. From the carrier view, the HN4000VN is managed as a single device.

But it’s not just about bandwidth, added Bolton, it’s really about service transparency. No matter what the physical connection – copper or fiber – customers shouldn’t have to worry whether they can get Ethernet at the bandwidth they require, he said.