XO announced the expansion of their Ethernet capabilities and now claims they can deliver Ethernet services to more than half a million business locations in 75 major U.S. metropolitan markets. XO is utilizing a variety of technologies and platforms including its nationwide fiber networks, expanded deployment of Ethernet over copper technology, and fixed broadband wireless capabilities to achieve this broadened Ethernet footprint.

It’s no secret that the cable industry sees the small/medium business and enterprise sectors as their next big growth engine. Continuing to grow revenue generating units in the consumer triple play sector is nice, but the growth hungry cable industry realizes that won’t be enough to satisfy shareholders and Wall Street. So it’s no surprise to see collaborative efforts like the one announced by Charter and Cox concerning fiber connectivity links. The two large MSOs have agreed to connect each others markets through fiber rings in their Nevada markets of Reno and Las Vegas. Similar links are taking place in California, between Orange County and Los Angeles. Cox and Charter have previously relied on telecom carriers to establish connectivity between markets.

The collaborative effort will target enterprise customers who have multiple locations, with Ethernet and IP transport services. “This agreement brings a competitive choice to businesses that need to communicate with locations in other key commerce hubs in the western U.S.,” said Jim McGann, vice president and general manager, Charter Business. Cox has been quite active with their Ethernet solutions, and now ranks as the fourth largest provider of Ethernet services in the country. By partnering with Charter, they are able to expand services beyond their traditional footprint. Expect to see more collaborative efforts like this among cable MSOs, as they continue to try to compete with well entrenched telecom service providers, who have long viewed the business communications sector and the billions of revenue it generates as their own.

AT&T announced the expansion of its VPLS service. AT&T's VPLS service called OPT-E-WAN, allows businesses to link multiple locations globally with a point-to-point Ethernet connection. The service is expected to launch this summer. AT&T is adding new connection speeds of 2 Mbps, 4 Mbps, and 8 Mbps to the VPLS platform to it’s larger footprint in the U.S. Its currently only available in the former Bellsouth footprint.

Sprint announced the launch of Sprint Provided Ethernet Access, a local loop Ethernet connectivity option. Sprint will market the IP service to enterprise customers as an alternative to traditional DS1 and DS3 services. The Ethernet service will connect to Sprint’s nationwide MPLS network. Broadband speeds will range from 2 Mbps to 1 Gbps, subject to market availability.

In what could be characterized as a “leveling the playing field” development, cable MSOs can now compete with telecom carriers for metro Ethernet services. PhyFlex Networks has introduced a promising carrier Ethernet product for cable MSO networks, which has been certified by the Metro Ethernet Forum. This development allows cable companies to serve business and enterprise customers with a metro Ethernet solution – a necessity to compete with established telecom carriers in the enterprise space. Metro Ethernet in the carrier space is a promising application and could prove to be lucrative to carriers who can effectively offer the service.

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