BellSouth taps Alcatel, Redback for broadband plans

BellSouth this week said it has selected Alcatel and Redback as suppliers for a next generation broadband build-out.

BellSouth tapped Alcatel's 7330 DSLAM and Redback's SmartEdge 800 Service Gateway as components of a hybrid fiber/copper IP network to deliver voice, data and perhaps video service. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

The RBOC said its network upgrade will enable it to deliver more than 12M-bit/sec of bandwidth over a single copper telephone line and more than 24M-bit/sec over a bonded pair.  Those links from homes and small offices will come from BellSouth's fiber-to-the curb network, which passes more than one million homes.

"We believe it is possible to provide speeds fast enough to make triple play services over IP a reality using a mosaic approach of fiber and next generation DSL," said Bill Smith, BellSouth CTO, in a statement.

The strategy is similar to SBC's fiber-to-the-node plan but differs from Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises project, which takes optics straight into the home or office.

BellSouth said about 50% of its customers are served by a combination of fiber and short copper loops.

Alcatel's 7330 is an IP DSLAM designed for a deep fiber access network. It's intended to deliver IP TV and other video-quality services over an existing copper loop.  The 7330 supports between 24 and 500 subscribers per node.

Redback's SmartEdge 800 Service Gateway is an edge router that performs broadband aggregation, content delivery, VPN, IP dedicated access and leased line aggregation applications.