NorthPoint Communications Inc.
Monday agreed to deploy a G.lite solution from Copper Mountain Networks Inc. as
part of its full-scale expansion into the broadband consumer marketplace.
Copper Mountain is to supply a high density G.lite solution that supports a 24-port line
card, which makes it more cost-effective for NorthPoint
to deploy services to the high-volume Digital Subscriber Line consumer
market.
The G.lite card supports high Internet Protocol intelligence, which
guarantees Quality of Service standards for mission critical applications
including voice, multimedia, and entertainment applications in large-scale
DSL networks.
NorthPoint plans to use Copper Mountain’s G.lite solution to support a wide
variety of services for the consumer market, including high-speed Internet
access, voice and consumer content for special events, popular portals,
MP3 music and video.
Liz Fetter, NorthPoint president and chief executive officer, said the
Copper Mountain deal is much more than a milestone for the national DSL
service provider.
“We’re very pleased with the results of our trials of Copper Mountain’s
G.lite solution and look forward to expanding our presence in the consumer
market,” Fetter said. “This is not only a corporate milestone for
NorthPoint, but a true milestone for DSL services and the delivery of
groundbreaking Internet-based services to the consumer marketplace,”
“Our technology partnership with Copper Mountain is a key aspect of
NorthPoint’s consumer initiative,” Fetter added.
NorthPoint is moving aggressively to take advantage of recent regulatory
advancements allowing line sharing with incumbent carriers to roll out its
DSL services.
The line sharing order by the Federal
Communication Commission in October of 1999, enables Competitive Local
Exchange Carriers like NorthPoint to offer DSL service on the same physical
line, or copper loop, that the incumbent uses to deliver Plain Old
Telephone Service.
Prior to the line sharing order, ILECs had a clear advantage over CLECs in
providing DSL services to the consumer marketplace. The FCC’s line sharing
order makes it affordable for DLS providers like NorthPoint to offer
competitive broadband services to the consumer marketplace.
Rick Gilbert, Copper Mountain president and chief executive officer said
NorthPoint has seized the day by quickly responding to line sharing
regulatory changes.
“Our continued working relationship with NorthPoint as it extends its
addressable markets from the business DSL segment to the consumer DSL
marketplace is important to our overall growth, and matches Copper
Mountain’s recently announced commitment to the consumer marketplace,”
Gilbert said.
G.lite, also known as G.992.2, is an International Telecommunication Union
standard ratified in October 1999. Use of the G.lite standard enables
Copper Mountain to support concurrent data and analog voice over the local
copper loop at downstream speeds ranging from 64 KBPS to 1.536 MBPS in 32
KBPS steps, and upstream speeds ranging from 32 KBPS to 512 KBPS, also in
32 KBPS steps.
G.lite also extends to a maximum distance of 19,000 feet from a central
office over 26-gauge wire and 26,200 feet over 24-gauge wire. In compliance
with the G.lite standard, Copper Mountain’s DSL concentrators enable
end-to-end ATM on the DSL line from the subscriber’s premise to the
provider’s Point-of-Presence.
Residential customers in Dallas, Chicago, San Jose, and New York are
currently testing the Copper Mountain G.lite solution for NorthPoint.
