Openreach, the Infrastructure division of BT, is today launching its new OSA 100G Single product capable of delivering point-to-point Ethernet links at speeds of 100Gbps (or, for those with legacy requirements, ten 10Gbps links). This new Optical Spectrum Access product provides an upgrade option for companies looking to upgrade infrastructure or customer links beyond the 10Gbps EAD circuits offer.
The new service is available at line lengths of up to 65km although it is worth noting that the ‘as the crow flies’ or road distance may well be much shorter.
The advertised cost is from £863 per month (taking into account setup) at the wholesale level, albeit minimum contract periods are 3, 5 and 7 years, so the practical costs for longer runs and contracts mean this is will require a significant commitment. The termination device is a familiar-sized 1U Adva.
“Demand for 100G point-to-point managed services in the access network is on the rise, supporting the growing demand for services like corporate cloud applications housed in both private and public data centres, as the size and regularity of the their data transfers continue to grow.
Based on our own research we believe that this offering will move 100G into the access market at a price that enables Communications Providers to compete more keenly by leaving them significant commercial headroom to add their own service wrap and ISP layer whilst still challenging current retail pricing.”
Simon Williams, Head of Optical Products
As with other optical products, the service is entirely uncontended, making it suitable for commercial applications where guaranteed speeds between sites are important. Importantly Openreach states that the service may not be used to “build, extend or replicate core networks”.
More details are available on the Openreach website.
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