INTERNET
Ireland gets its own DSL platform
04-10-2000
by Aoidin Scully
Ireland received its own digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband networking solution on Tuesday with the launch by Lucent Technologies of its Stinger DSL platform.
Lucent's system allows phone companies to offer business and residential customers high quality voice communication over DSL as well as high-speed data, Internet and video services.
"We now have the technology to enable service providers to offer incredible bandwidth and services down existing copper wires," said Willie O'Connell, managing director of Channels Ireland, Lucent Technologies.
DSL can save operators money, get them fast to market and release them from the responsibility of managing their own network, according to Lucent.
The launch comes as EU telecoms ministers have decided to complete the liberalisation of local telephony by the end of the year.
"The unbundling of the local loop will have a major impact on how Irish telcos operate," claimed Jim Dwyer, sales manager of Lucents service provider networks division. "It makes DSL most attractive for Eircoms competitors, because it cuts Eircom out of the link to the customer entirely. And it means that there'll be no restrictions on who can implement DSL."
Lucent also claims that Stinger is ahead of other products in offering quality of service (QoS) capabilities, enabling service providers to prioritise voice services while delivering dedicated access to bandwidth-hungry data services.
"Stinger, unlike rival products, was only brought to market last year and therefore combines all the latest advances including a small footprint, onboard testing and ATM facility," asserted O'Connell. "It is easily the most advanced product available."
The footprint means that Stinger can support 2,016 ports per 600x600 sq mm rack nearly three times the port density of competing products.
"Our environmentals, including the amount of power required and the amount of heat dissipated, are all excellent because Stinger is such a recent development," added Dwyer. "Some of our competitors have five-year-old products, and theyre suffering because of that."
Meanwhile, British Telecom has been threatened with legal action following its continued failure to allow competitors to launch high-speed Internet services using their local exchanges. Experts warn that concerted, industry-wide action is possible.
"If this doesn't get sorted out soon, we'll take legal action against BT on the basis that its behaviour is anti-competitive, either as part of a wider industry group or on our own," said Angus MacSween, chief executive of Iomart, which intends installing DSL technology across Scotland.
Industry insiders fear a similar crisis in Ireland if Eircom tries to delay the unbundling process.
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