CHOICE ONE COMMUNICATIONS INITIATES TRIALS OF VOICE OVER DSL
ICP establishes leadership in the deployment of DSL technology Rochester, N.Y., October 14, 1999 - Choice One Communications, an integrated communications provider (ICP) offering high quality, fully integrated telecommunications services to small and mid-sized businesses in the Northeast, has launched customer field trials with three separate vendors to evaluate the viability and applicability of voice over Digital Subscriber Line (VoDSL) technology. Over the next several months, the company will evaluate the results of the field trial and select a partner for a widespread VoDSL market rollout. A leader in the deployment of DSL technology, Choice One is currently deploying DSL for data communications in each of its markets in tandem with its DSL technology partner, Paradyne Networks Inc.. The three field trials locations and vendors are: - Buffalo, New York-- CopperCom, Santa Clara, CA
- Albany New York-- Jetstream, Los Gatos, CA.
- Syracuse, New York-- TollBridge, Sunnyvale, CA
"DSL enables true integrated services voice and dataon a single network from one company," said Kevin Dickens, Senior Vice President of Operations and Engineering for Choice One. "With voice over DSL technology, our small and medium-sized business customers will be able to obtain high-speed Internet access and voice communications all on the same line. In most cases, the capacity is available to add incremental voice services immediately, dramatically streamlining installation." Voice over DSL uses cell-based digital technology to deliver voice and data services on the same physical copper wires. It has the advantages of using the same copper infrastructure already in place for voice; an "always on" 24-hour a day access; and sufficient bandwidth for both voice and data to ride over the same transport infrastructure. The available bandwidth capacity for the Choice One VoDSL trials ranges from 128 kb to 1.54 mb, depending on the distance from the customer premise to the central office and condition of the copper pair. "Voice over DSL certainly will allow Choice One to penetrate markets more quickly," added Dickens. "And because we will only need a single copper pair to provide multiple lines instead of a one-to-one ratio of copper pairs to voice lines, we will become less reliant on the incumbent local exchange carrier. "We believe that Choice One is the first competitive local exchange carrier in western and central New York to conduct field trials with actual clients," noted Dickens. "Each customer has already subscribed to Choice One's DSL service and was eager to help us better understand the opportunities inherent in a system that would support integrated voice and data over a single user network interface, as opposed to using multiple circuits." Vision Systems, a computer consulting firm with 20 employees in Albany and Schenectady, is the field trial participant in the Albany area. The company has been using Choice One for voice services for approximately three months. "The people at Choice One have been great to work with," said Vision Systems president Brian Epstein, "so when they suggested a voice over DSL trial, we were quick to agree. I've been making a lot of calls, both local and long distance, and so far it has been going well. The concept is suitable for most small businessesone line to handle both voice and data without having to install 8 or 9 lines. Once this gets past the beta stage, we intend to recommend it for many of our clients." Choice One announces Voice over DSL trials, page 3 Vision Systems has already been recommending Choice One's DSL service (ChoiceNetJet) for its customers. "We specialize in being the information systems department for small to mid-sized businesses," explains Epstein, "so our clients look to us for the next step. If they can get a fulltime connection to the Internet, it's great. All of our customers are happy with Choice One's DSL service, and believe me, it would come back to haunt us if they weren't . The price is reasonable, they are easy to work with, the hardware is available, and the installation gets completed on schedule." The field trials will continue through early November. ABOUT THE VENDORS (statements prepared by vendors) CopperCom, Santa Clara, California. CopperCom is a privately-held Silicon Valley company that is Giving Voice to DSL. The company was founded to address a worldwide market that is at the crossroads of voice and data convergence, and is paving the way for the next generation of high bandwidth applications. CopperCom is leading the market in delivering carrier-class Voice over DSL equipment, both voice gateways and integrated access devices, to incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers. Company information: www.coppercom.com.
Press contact: Susan Lider at 650-321-2084 or susan@sliderassociates.com. Jetstream Communications, Inc., Los Gatos, California. Jetstream's leading VoDSL solution allows ICPs to quickly and cost-effectively deliver integrated voice and data services to the small business and high-end residential markets. The solution is interoperable with all major Class 5 switches and broadband access technologies, including xDSL, T1, and fixed wireless. Company information: www.jetstream.com.
Press contact: Ken Kolderup at 408-399-1331 or kkolderup@jetstream.com. Tollbridge Technologies, Santa Clara, California. Tollbridge's unique IP-based voice system enables CLECs to deliver economically toll-quality voice services over all broadband access technologies, including DSL, to small businesses. Company information: www.tollbridgetech.com. Press contact: Kendal Kellogg at 408-585-2146 or abrown@tollbridgetech.com. About Choice One Communications
Headquartered in Rochester, New York, Choice One offers local telecommunications service, long distance, data, Internet and DSL solutions targeting small to medium size businesses in the Northeast, U.S.. The company is making significant long term commitments in target markets by deploying Lucent 5ESS integrated switching and data platforms, including DSL technology, to offer its clients fully integrated, high quality solutions for telecommunications services. Choice One currently serves customers in Albany, Syracuse and Buffalo, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Providence, Rhode Island. Contact for Choice One: Phil Yawman, Sr. Vice President, Marketing and Business Development (716) 530-2604 pyawman@choiceonecom.com TollBridge and TollVoiceTM are trademarks of TollBridge Technologies, Inc. All other service marks and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
