Texas Fiber Optic Network Expansion

There are big things afoot in the Lone Star State. In this case, it's big network expansions from partnerships and mergers. The result is more options and fiber network availability for businesses located in Texas.

Transtelco is a major competitive provider with a fiber network that stretches from Houston to Los Angeles and dips into Northern Mexico to pick up Monterrey, Chihuahua, Nogales, and Tijuana. The have expansion plans for both Mexico and Texas routes.

Within Texas, PAETEC, another major competitive provider, has considerable fiber assets serving Dallas, Austin and Houston, to name a few of their Texas POPs (Points of Presence). PAETEC now has offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and The Woodlands.

What’s afoot is a joint venture between PAETEC and Transtelco that has PAETEC building out Transtelco’s fiber leg connecting El Paso and Temple. With half ownership in this project, PAETEC gains additional SONET ring diversity for its network across the southern US and into Mexico. They also have access to offer voice, Internet and fixed wireless to agencies of the state government that use services of the State of Texas Department of Information Resources.

What makes this situation even more interesting is that PAETEC has been acquired by Windstream Communication, a competitive carrier serving the southeast and midwest US, including fiber runs into Dallas, as well as a network that extends into Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia. Windstream has major fiber connections planned into other states, plus existing data centers in Newton, Iowa, Brookfield, Wisconsin, Nashville, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, Charlotte, Cary, and Raleigh North Carolina, Ephrata and State College, Pennsylvania and Boston, Massachusetts. Windstream’s existing fiber network spans some 60,000 route miles.

Windstream offers MPLS network services based on a resilient optical core to service companies with multiple business locations. Their network offers VPN (Virtual Private Network) with VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) connectivity. It’s a fully meshed network that allows regional sites to exchange traffic without having to depend on a central hub server. For companies with converged voice and data networks, Windstream offers Real-Time QoS that ensures voice packets receive top priority to keep them from getting slowed down or held up by less sensitive data packets.

Do you need fast and reliable access to the Internet? Windstream offers Ethernet Internet with symmetrical bandwidth up to 1 Gbps. This is a dedicated connection that offers consistency you won’t get in shared cable connections and bandwidth that far exceeds the capability of T1 lines and DS3 connections. Windstream's service level agreement guarantees 99.99% uptime to ensure availability.

Do you have a business presence in Texas with a need for better voice or data connectivity than you have now? Get competitive fiber optic bandwidth quotes from PAETEC, Windstream and other competitive carriers serving Texas, the southern states, or the entire United States, with optional connections to international destinations.


Note: Map of Texas courtesy of WikimediaCommons.

Ethernet Internet For Your Business

There’s a new broadband connection service for business locations, and it’s one that is well worth a look. What is Ethernet Internet? I’ve prepared a short presentation on YouTube that explains the key points. Check out the Ethernet Internet business presentation on the YouTube site, or view it right here:



As the presentation states, Ethernet offers advantages in both price and performance at the same time. That’s nearly unheard of in most business products and services. But this is new technology on a fast moving learning curve. Look for Ethernet Internet to expand beyond its metropolitan roots and permeate every nook and cranny of the country. In rural areas, this may mean wireless delivery. In town, provisioning will be over copper for speeds up to 10 Mbps or so and fiber optics for the higher speeds.

Would you like to get more bandwidth for less money? You may very well be in a position to do so. Take a minute or so to use our GigaTrunks Ethernet Internet Finder to see what services and pricing is available for your specific location. To get maximum advantage, be sure to discuss your needs with a Telarus expert consultant. They have knowledge of the latest short term special offers that may not show up on the automated listings.

New Ethernet Internet Finder Service

If you are in a business that needs high bandwidth connectivity and you want it at better than traditional telco prices, then you should have a look at the new GigaPackets Ethernet Internet service finder.

If you are already aware of the cost and performance benefits of Metro and Carrier Ethernet services, then you'll want to see what's available for your business location right now. Why? Because the faster you make the transition from antiquated telecommunication connections to the new Ethernet WAN services, the sooner you'll start saving money every month. In the current economic environment, who can afford to wait?

What's all the excitement over Ethernet? Isn't that just the protocol that runs on local area networks?

Oh, yes. Ethernet is at the core of nearly all LAN networks. The only exceptions are very specialized networks for high speed disk access or proprietary setups used in research. Any PC, server or network appliance you buy today is going to be setup for some flavor of Ethernet. The most common speeds are 10 Mbps Ethernet, 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet, 1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet and some installations of 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

But the GigaTrunks Ethernet Internet finder isn't looking for Ethernet in the LAN. It's looking for Ethernet that runs outside of your company. That includes connections to other business locations and to the Internet. Collectively, these are called Ethernet WAN connections.

Now, here's what the excitement is all about. First, being Ethernet, these connections effectively allow you to extend your LAN across town or across the country. Since no protocol conversion is involved in transfering packets from your LAN to the WAN and back to a LAN somewhere else, Ethernet transport services are highly efficient and offer low latency.

But that's just half the story. The other half, perhaps even the more important half, is that Ethernet is proving to be a very low cost service compared to traditional telecommunication service prices.

Why? One reason is because Ethernet is being offered by newer network service providers who are out to compete with those old-line telecom companies. Many have all new IP-based networks with the latest high performance equipment and none of the old legacy services and connections to maintain. They can often make the connection directly from your company to wherever else you want to go. By staying on a single provider's network, you can enjoy a cost advantage.

Another opportunity for cost savings comes with the development of EoC or Ethernet over Copper services. This is an access technology that connects from your company to the service provider using bundles of twisted pair copper telco wiring. Most likely you have a multi-pair cable in place already. Bandwidths up to 45 Mbps are possible with EoC, depending on your distance to the carrier's facilities.

How much can you save by using Ethernet instead of what else is available? A sure way to find out is to take a minute and use the GigaPackets Ethernet Internet Finder right now.

Ethernet Internet Is a Reality

Internet access has come a long way since the days of 300 baud modems. But regardless of speed, Internet connectivity has always been through a conversion process from some protocol to the Ethernet that runs on company LANs and PC network cards. If only one could get to the Internet via Ethernet itself. Well, now you can.

Last mile access via Ethernet is rapidly gaining popularity in metropolitan areas. Why? Primarily because of the cost savings, although ease of network interfacing is also a consideration.

An Ethernet access connection is often called Metro Ethernet service because it is intended primarily for use within city or downtown portion of a city. A more generic term is Carrier Ethernet. As a core networking technology, Ethernet for WAN (Wide Area Networks) provides a direct extension of your company network across town, across the country, or to other networks such as the Internet.

DIA or Dedicated Internet Access is the gold standard for business connections to the Internet. Dedicated means that you have exclusive use of the line and it's bandwidth back to the Internet. Consumer grade services, such as DSL, WiFi, and Cable broadband, are all shared services. With shared services, the quality of your service is highly dependent on what your neighbors are doing online. With dedicated access, any contention for service will be limited to your own company.

T1 lines are standard for DIA service at 1.5 Mbps. They can be bonded up to 10 or 12 Mbps. Beyond that you need fiber optic services, such as OC3 or DS3 over SONET. These can be pricey services, especially when the local telephone company is involved in providing the complete service or last mile access.

Ethernet access connections are something new. Many competitive carriers have their own fiber optic networks and will directly connect you for 10, 100, or 1000 Mbps Ethernet service. You'll get a better price because they do not share facilities with the telcos.

Another option is EoC or Ethernet over Copper. You can get up to 45 Mbps Ethernet service, including dedicated Internet access, if you are located nearby a carrier point of presence. Service is delivered over multiple twisted copper pair using an advanced modulation scheme.

I mentioned ease of network Interface. With Metro Ethernet service your access connection is a standard RJ-45 jack, just like the ones you'd expect to find on a switch or router. What's coming into that jack is the same Ethernet protocol that you are running on your LAN.

Is your location eligible for Metro Ethernet service over copper or fiber optic cable? Find out how close the nearest Ethernet connection point is to your location. Then get a quote and see how much Ethernet access can save you over your current Internet or point to point network service.