Today's Top Stories Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) on Thursday revealed plans that it will soon offer a 305 Mbps/65 Mbps speed tier over a point-to-point Ethernet-based Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network. Comcast's fiber-based $300 service tier is, not surprisingly, being used to target markets where Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is offering its 300/65 Mbps Quantum speed tiers, according to Broadband Reports. Not long after Verizon launched its 300 Mbps service in June, another Broadband Reports article said Comcast was also developing a 305 Mbps offering, but did not reveal any of the technical details of the offering. The markets where Comcast will deliver the fiber-based service include parts of Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Wilmington, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Richmond, and New Jersey. According to anonymous sources in Broadband Reports' user forum, Comcast will be delivering a service that looks and smells like the Metro Ethernet service it delivers to its business clients. To deliver the service, the MSO will use Ciena's (Nasdaq: CIEN) 3931 Service Delivery Switch in the last mile network and a NETGEAR (Nasdaq: NTGR) R6300 gateway inside the home. However, there appear to be some key limitations to the service. For one, a customer has to be located near one of its Metro Ethernet platforms, which it using to target medium and large business customers. Second, a customer has to live in a single-dwelling unit that is located 1/3 mile from a fiber node. Charlie Douglas, a Comcast spokesman, said in a Light Reading article that it is using its existing fiber network to deliver a service to gauge interest in these higher speed platforms and determine what changes it may need to make on its existing DOCSIS infrastructure. "We've demonstrated our DOCSIS 3.0 infrastructure, which we currently deliver to more than 50 million homes, is capable of delivering 1 Gbps or more," Douglas said. "While demand for faster speeds continues to grow, demand for ultrafast speed tiers (of more than 200 Mbps) is still emerging. In the near-term, until there is clear demand to modify the capacity of our existing DOCSIS infrastructure, we can provide our new residential Extreme 305 service by leveraging the fiber already in our network and our Metro-E product." Comcast, however, isn't the only MSO that wants to take a bite out of Verizon's higher-speed FiOS lunch. Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR), while not revealing any specific plans, said in late August that it is also developing a 300 Mbps speed tier. For more:
- Broadband Reports has this article
- Here's Light Reading's take Related articles:
Comcast counters Verizon's Quantum FiOS offering with 305 Mbps tier
Comcast generates $2.3 billion in annual small business revenues
Will Verizon's new speed tiers, bundled options make cable jump?
Boosting business services: How the FCC's CLEC decision affects competition Read more about: FTTH
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Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) will officially launch its dishNET broadband service on Oct. 1, targeting consumers who have little or no broadband service options. The satellite provider will offer two main packages: a 5/1 Mbps tier for $39.99 a month (plus equipment fees) with 10GB of data and that most satellite customers can upgrade to a 10/1 Mbps package for $49.99 per month. Of course, the new satellite service comes with the usual contract catches. Customers who want the $39.99 5/1 Mbps package must commit to a two-year contract. They'll receive a bundle that includes either Dish's America's Top 120 or higher programming packages. Satellite customers who purchase the broadband service as part of a bundle will save $10 a month. As part of their package, subscribers will get five @dishNET.com email accounts, each with 2 GB of storage and an easy-to-configure online mail portal that combines web search, news, entertainment and weather updates. Besides the satellite Internet service, Dish said that it its CLEC subsidiary Liberty Bell Telecom will fold its wireline broadband service into the dishNET brand. Comprised of customers in 14 Midwest and Western states, Dish will offer those customers a 7 Mbps connection for $29.95 a month. The provider will also offer customers to upgrade to a 12 Mbps tier for $5 more a month or 20 Mbps for another $10 a month. In announcing its service, Dish cited a recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) report that 19 million Americans still can't get a broadband connection, including 14.5 million who live in rural markets. Although there have been a series of failed attempts by other players like Open Range to address the hard-to-serve rural markets with WiMAX-based wireless service, it's possible that given the deeper pockets that Dish Network has over these smaller players, it may be able to build dishNet into a profitable business venture. For more:
- see the release
- Wall Street Journal has this article (sub. req.) Related articles:
Dish Network's dishNET broadband readies nationwide push
Dish Network ups telecom service game, acquires Liberty-Bell Telecom
Satellite could solve rural broadband problem; Iran blocks access to Google Gmail
Frontier expands broadband reach via Hughes' satellite service Read more about: Dish Network
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The Maine Fiber Company on Friday announced that it completed construction on the 1,100 mile Three Ring Binder (3RB) middle mile network. Following early protests by the state's main incumbent provider FairPoint Communications (Nasdaq: FRP), Maine Fiber Company said the 3RB network will be able to extend broadband services to 110,000 households and 600 community anchor institutions throughout Maine. Jeff McCarthy, Vice President of Business Development for the Maine Fiber Company, said that even though they just completed network construction, 12 customers are already leasing fiber on the network and it has another 29 contracts under consideration. Among the early customers of the network are GWI, Oxford Networks and Pioneer Broadband. Fletcher Kittredge, CEO of GWI--which is building what it calls its "Gigabit Main Street" fiber networks in Old Town and Orono--said that the "The Three Ring Binder has already helped GWI expand high-speed Internet service to eight communities across the state." In order to help its growing business customer base with their expansions, GWI, one of the lead sponsors of the Three Ring Binder middle mile network has established a connection into Boston and New York through a relationship with Sidera Networks. Likewise, Oxford Networks said that not only has the 3RB allowed customers to get access over both its own fiber network and a separate fiber network, but it has enabled it to reach customers in more remote areas. Echoing a similar theme as GWI and Oxford, Pioneer CEO Tim McAfee said that with the 3RB network they "have already connected unserved or underserved communities in Aroostook and Washington counties." Besides GWI, Oxford, and Pioneer, the new network is being used for two other key purposes: wireless backhaul and connecting community anchor institutions such as schools, government buildings and hospitals. While not revealing any customer names, Maine Fiber said that a number of wireless operators are using the network for backhauling both 3G and 4G wireless services in rural parts of the state. At the same time, 100 community anchor institutions will now have direct optical connections to the network and 80 are already connected. 
For more:
- see the release Special report: Fiber hunter: How to improve Internet access by digging up forgotten fiber lines Related articles:
NextGen Telecom Services to help build Maine Fiber Co.'s Three Ring Binder network
Maine's Three Ring Binder network gets underway
Maine's GWI extends broadband, voice service to Dover-Foxcroft and Calais
GWI leverages ADTRAN to expand residential, business service reach in Maine Read more about: Maine
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Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) on Thursday reached another goal in its ongoing drive to become a larger business services player by gaining Cisco's (Nasdaq: CSCO) Gold Certification and Master Managed Services Certification. In order to get Gold Certification, the telco had to adhere to stringent standards that Cisco set in various areas such as networking competency, service, support, and customer satisfaction. The certification means the telco can access Cisco's broad set of sales, technical, and lifecycle services training. Likewise, by gaining Cisco Master Managed Services Certification, the service provider has demonstrated its ability to deliver complex services and meet stringent requirements for a depth of capabilities. Windstream had its services audited by an independent third-party. In addition, Windstream had to offer two managed services using resources and procedures required to deploy, manage and support Cisco's solutions. Complementing its growing base of managed IP-based data and voice services, Windstream offers its business customers a wide range of Cisco's data products, including routers, switches, WiFi access points, and security devices. By gaining these certifications from Cisco, Windstream's growing business customer base will know that its telco partner has the expertise to resolve issues that come up with their equipment. Having that support and expertise deepens Windstream's relationship with larger corporate multisite clients, as well as smaller businesses that lack the IT and technology knowledge to manage complex telecom equipment on their premises. For more:
- see the release Related articles:
Windstream's net income slides 44% on higher expenses
Windstream wins Defense Dept. fiber-services contract
Windstream serves up IT, telecom service bundles for SMBs
Windstream lights up 1G fiber network for Richmond, Va. school district
Windstream to lay off 375-400 employees in Q3 Read more about: Windstream
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KPN Group Belgium (NYSE: KPN) on Thursday struck a wholesale arrangement with Belgacom to offer VDSL2-based broadband services to its customers. Under the terms of the five-year wholesale agreement, Belgacom will provide VDSL2 services to KPN Group Belgium, a move that will enable KPN to bring higher speed DSL services to its growing wireline customer base in Belgium. Although the VDSL2 connections will likely be used to deliver higher-speed broadband data services, it's not clear whether KPN will also offer IPTV services over these new connections. All that the two service providers said in a press release announcing the agreement was that they would provide more details on the commercial launch "later." Belgacom is required to let competitors like KPN Belgium purchase TV services, but are in the midst of challenging that requirement in a Belgian court. Although KPN has a foothold in Belgium's wireless market via Base, it sold its enterprise and wholesale unit to Mobistar in 2010. In addition to Belgacom, KPN Belgium faces the challenge of squaring off against other competitive carriers such as Mobistar and Telenet, all of which currently offer a mobile and wireline service bundle. Belgacom itself has been an early advocate of VDSL2, announcing an agreement last September to leverage Alcatel-Lucent's (NYSE: ALU) VDSL2 vectoring platforms to deliver services to its own customers beginning in 2014. The telco's adoption of VDSL2 vectoring builds on its "Broadway" broadband strategy that's set on maximizing the use of its existing fiber network infrastructure. For more:
- see the release Related articles:
Belgacom to deliver 50 Mbps over copper via Alcatel-Lucent's VDSL2 vectoring gear
KPN realigns fiber-based triple play offerings to lure new users
Alcatel-Lucent's VDSL2 vectoring technology is set on wringing more out of copper
Alcatel-Lucent squeezes 300 Mbps out of existing copper
DSL still dominates Asia-Pacific broadband, despite FTTP strides Read more about: belgacom
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Week in research: Competition could dampen business services; Alcatel-Lucent tops optical vendors
Come together: Living in a converged world
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