Wholesale Channel: News Briefs
Posted: 2/2002
Wholesale Channel
News
Briefs
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Harden, former chief operating officer at PointOne Telecommunications Inc., has joined Grande Communications as executive vice president of network services for Grande Networks, the company’s wholesale division. Harden, an Association of Communications Enterprises board member, will oversee Grande Networks’ sales, marketing, customer management and other related duties. The telecom veteran also has worked at Williams Communications Group Inc., WorldCom Inc. and the original Wiltel.
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Southern Telecom, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Company, that provides long-haul and metropolitan dark fiber, has added seven miles of connectivity to its Atlanta fiber ring, adding capacity in downtown and midtown. The telecom provider says it will provide fiber along the city’s famous Peachtree Street. Southern Telecom also plans to complete a fiber ring in Jacksonville, Fla., in early 2002.
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Talk America has expanded its bundled local and long distance phone service offers to in Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, expanding its footprint to 25 states. Talk America routes long distance traffic through its own switches and provides local services through unbundled network elements platform (UNE-P).
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Sprint Corp. has signed an agreement with Metromedia Fiber Network to lease fiber in 10 U.S. cities — Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington D.C. The Kansas City, Mo.-based carrier noted plans to use the fiber in initial markets during the second quarter and all 10 cities by the end of the year.
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Cable & Wireless has activated a transatlantic OC-192 network between the United States and Europe connecting seven cities using multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). The OC-192 network links New York and Washington D.C. with Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London and Paris. The MPLS technology allows the international carrier to offer Ethernet virtual private networks.
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GRIC Communications Inc. will add wireless access points from NetNearU to its global broadband wireless network. NetNearU plans to license several thousand access points during the next 18 months to be located at U.S. airports, hotels, marinas, military bases, retail establishments and truck stops.
In April 2000, GRIC expanded the scope of the GRIC Alliance, comprising approximately 300 service providers in about 150 countries, to include broadband wireless access based on the Wi-Fi (802.11b) standard. Skynet Global and China Netcom are among those that have joined the Wi-Fi network and other network providers are expected to be announced in coming months.
