BellSouth Ethernet goes mid-band

BellSouth this week said it is expanding its metro Ethernet service to include "mid-band" speed options for business customers.

Businesses now have access to Ethernet speed options of 2Mbps, 4Mbps and 8Mbps. BellSouth's metro Ethernet service also offers previously available data transport speeds of 10Mbps, 20Mbps, 50Mbps, 100Mbps, 250Mbps, 500Mbps and 1Gbps.

The new speeds, which were expected and are based on Virtual Ethernet Services disclosed last year, can be offered over current copper or fiber infrastructure, BellSouth says. They are targeted at small businesses and communications between corporate headquarters and branch locations.

BellSouth began offering metro Ethernet services in 1994. The carrier has 266 Ethernet switches and 5.2 million miles of fiber in its regional network and is currently one of the top three Ethernet service providers in the U.S., based on market share data from Vertical Systems Group.

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BellSouth this week said it is expanding its metro Ethernet service to include "mid-band" speed options for business customers.

Businesses now have access to Ethernet speed options of 2Mbps, 4Mbps and 8Mbps. BellSouth's metro Ethernet service also offers previously available data transport speeds of 10Mbps, 20Mbps, 50Mbps, 100Mbps, 250Mbps, 500Mbps and 1Gbps.

The new speeds, which were expected and are based on Virtual Ethernet Services disclosed last year, can be offered over current copper or fiber infrastructure, BellSouth says. They are targeted at small businesses and communications between corporate headquarters and branch locations.

BellSouth began offering metro Ethernet services in 1994. The carrier has 266 Ethernet switches and 5.2 million miles of fiber in its regional network and is currently one of the top three Ethernet service providers in the U.S., based on market share data from Vertical Systems Group.

BellSouth did not release specific pricing, but said the mid-band Ethernet service would be priced comparably to DSL on a per-megabit basis.