|
Many smaller, multi-tenant office buildings are within reach of
fiber from two or more carriers, said Herbert Martin, CEO of Salira
Optical Network Systems, and yet the only data services available
are inflexible T1s or DS3s from the incumbents.
Salira advocates Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPONs) as the
lowest cost way of delivering and provisioning scalable bandwidth.
Whereas the early PON standards development work was based on
ATM, Martin argued that a system built on IP/Ethernet will be less
expensive (target price of $500 per user) and scaleable to much higher
data rates.
There is actually a lack of fiber in most
local loops, said Yuval Baron, CEO of Actelis Networks, and given
the current economic climate it is not likely that fiber deployments
will be accelerated. The
days of "build it and they will come" are gone.
Baron pointed to the recent bankruptcy filing by Yipes! as
evidence that trenching fiber to the business is a difficult business
proposition. Actelis
Networks is developing a spatial division multiplexing technology for
delivering "better than fiber" performance over the existing copper
loop. The system works by
applying CDMA and spread spectrum principles over bundles of copper
pairs. Special algorithms
and processing are used for providing crosstalk management with forward
error correction. The
result, Baron claims, is bit error rates (BER) better than fiber even at
distances of up to 21,000 ft. The
Actelis idea is to transform voice-grade copper into a fiber-like link.
Access is not just about bandwidth but
about the availability of useful services, said Andy Chapman,
co-founder and EVP of Narad Networks.
His company is developing a Gigabit Ethernet switched network
that could be deployed as an overlay to the existing HFC networks of the
cable operators. The Narad
concept extends beyond being a bandwidth conduit for MSOs chasing the
business market. The
network itself would serve as the operating system for delivering
advanced service.
In offering a boardroom perspective on
the three start-ups, Jim Sackman, CTO of Advanced Fiber
Communications, said the role of government will be critical in
determining the fate of the access network.
By one means or another, he said, the FCC aims to "level the
playing field" and this will have a huge impact on equipment suppliers
for the access network. Tench
Coxe, Managing Director for Sutter Hill Ventures, disagreed saying
that the Washington policy wonks have never been able to set the course
for the networking industry. The
industry itself has evolved into the cable vs. DSL duopoly and, just
maybe, market conditions and technology will allow for a third, wireless
access choice to emerge. Dr.
John McQuillan said that while the old adage "the government that
rules least rules the best" has its merits, clearly the government
needs to act to reign the excesses of over-exuberant capitalists in the
industry. One of the
implications of having fewer but larger service providers, said
McQuillan, is that equipment start-up companies will find it harder to
penetrate these few accounts. Fewer
start-ups could mean less innovation for the industry.
|
