NGN Ventures: First-Mile Solutions, Broadband Access

New technology must enable the incumbent service providers to reduce their risks of deployment, said Tuvia Barlev, CEO of Actelis Networks, speaking at this week's NGN Ventures Conference in Burlingame, California. His company offers access platforms that help RBOCs and other incumbent telcos to "profit from copper." Actelis Networks' MetaLIGHT solutions enable broadband service to 100% of customers in locations where fiber deployment is cost-prohibitive. The technology bonds multiple copper pairs into a "fiber-like," higher capacity copper trunk. Barlev said the system provides a bit error rate (BER) performance of 10-12 for scalable bandwidth on multiple pairs of copper for delivering from 3 Mbps to 155 Mbps at reaches of 18,000 feet and beyond. Actelis Networks was founded in October 1998 and has raised $75 million in three rounds. Barlev said the company has been generating revenue since Q4 2002.


There has been a constant evolution in the cable networks over the past 20 years, said Jamie Howard, COO of Big Band Networks, and the goal of the "triple-play" cable network is achievable today. Big Band's vision is to enable the delivery of any media at any time to any subscriber via a Broadband Multimedia Service Router that integrates MPEG and IP. The Big Band platform provides media processing and then switches/routes a variety of applications, including broadcast content, HDTV, ad insertions, GigE video transport trunks, live video switching and VOD. Specific programs are routed only to nodes where subscribers are actually watching the program, a much more efficient use of the network than the current paradigm in which all content is distributed throughout the entire infrastructure. Big Band currently has commercial deployments with 7 of top 10 cable operators in the U.S. and has made initial penetration with satellite and DSL operators.


The time is ripe for broadband wireless access said Yatish Pathak, CEO of SOMA Networks, because of a convergence of telecom technologies and the advance of Moore's law. SOMA offers a software-enhanced, plug-and-play wireless access system that combines broadband data and toll-quality voice service. Pathak argues that for very little up-front cost a service provides can achieve a large service area, following a "pay-as-you-grow" model after that. The company claims broadband data rates up to 12 Mbps per customer in a non-line-of-sight environment. The system uses MMDS, OCS, WCS and 3.5 GHz spectrum. SOMA is currently in revenue deployment.


Passive optical networking (PON) is the lowest cost, higher bandwidth solution for last mile access, said Darryl Ponder, CEO of Optical Solutions. The fundamental issue in last mile access, he argues, is maximum bandwidth for lowest cost. His company supplies a PON solution that provides multiple lifeline voice circuits, RF video, and high bandwidth (~40 Mbps) IP service. One fiber strand typically serves 32 buildings. The going rate for PON is between $1,800 to $2,000 per home at low volumes. The cost of the optronics is falling, although actual fiber trenching typically accounts for 53% of the construction cost. At RBOC volumes, Ponder said this cost comes down to $1,200 per home, which he believes will enable massive rollouts by the incumbents. PON is currently being deployed in new housing developments, by municipalities that feel their communities are underserved, and by service providers in network overbuilds. One of the chief PON advantages is that carriers choosing this architecture virtually guarantee their lock-up of the market. Optical Solutions currently has about 14,000 nodes deployed and in operation. The average revenue per user (ARPU) for its carrier customers has been $103 per month for a combination of services. By late 2004, Ponder expects the RBOCs to start large scale PON rollouts. Optical Solutions has raised $128 million in equity funding to date.
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