Next Level Targets Rural Telcos

By Jeff Baumgartner, CED Magazine
from BroadbandWeek Direct, May 3, 2002

Next Level Communications has launched a new ADSL video platform designed to help telcos offer a bundle of voice, data and video services and compete directly with cable operators.

Dubbed ADSL "plus," Next Level said its new platform enables telcos to double the reach of existing VDSL technology, and reach more rural customers. ADSL+, at 8 to 10 megabits per second, offers a two to three times capacity boost versus traditional ADSL technology, said Jeff Barnell, Next Level's senior vice president of marketing and customer care.

Next Level's ADSL platform complements its VDSL gear, which is used by a number of telcos, including Qwest Communications, which offers VDSL in Phoenix, Ariz. and in Highlands Ranch, Colo., a suburb just south of Denver. Overall, Next Level's VDSL gear supports about 100,000 paying customers, Barnell said.

Although VDSL provides sufficient bandwidth for video streams, the downside is its reach--about 4,000 feet from the remote terminal. In comparison, Next Level's ADSL+ platform extends that reach to about 10,000 feet from the remote terminal or central office, Barnell said.

Via relationships with companies such as Myrio, iMagic and Gemstar-TV Guide International, ADSL+ is also designed to support advanced applications and services such as interactive gaming, video-on-demand and subscription-VOD.

Next Level also claims that the costs involved with ADSL+ are also palatable enough for mass deployments. When equipment, installation and other deployment costs are factored in, rollouts of ADSL+ fall below the $1,000 per subscriber range, said Geoff Burke, director of marketing services.

Next Level's first public ADSL+ field trial is with Glasgow, Ky.-based South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative (SCRTC), a telco that serves about 27,500 rural access lines. Using Next Level equipment, SCRTC started offering two streams of digital, 1 Mbps of data and phone services to about 50 customers during the first two weeks of the trial. Burke said the co-op presently has a backlog of about 800 ADSL+ customers.

This summer, SCRTC plans to shift to a commercial deployment and offer ADSL+ services to about 1,200 paying subscribers