TEL AVIV -- RAD Data Communications has announced that at CeBIT 2005 in Hanover, Germany, it will be exhibiting two new customer-located, service-oriented Ethernet Network Termination Units (E-NTUs), which provide a clear demarcation point between user and operator networks, permitting end-to-end control of Ethernet services in the fiber Local Loop.

Owned and operated by the service provider, RAD's ETX-102 (FE uplink) and ETX-202 (GE uplink) E-NTUs allow the operator to separate each user's traffic and offer services such as inter-office LAN connectivity, Internet access and secure virtual private networks (VPNs). This approach extends the service provider's reach over fiber, facilitating management of differentiated services up to the customer premises while ensuring service level agreement (SLA) enforcement.

"Ethernet in the Local Loop reduces carrier expenses, since Ethernet ports are far less expensive than other options," explains Yacov Cazes, Senior Product Line Manager at RAD Data Communications. "RAD's cost-effective, remotely-managed ETX-102 and ETX-202 are ideal solutions for Ethernet in the Local Loop because they provide access regardless of the backbone technology," Cazes adds. "The savings that result can then be passed on by the carrier to consumers."

Port Options Serve Different Customer-Defined Priorities

RAD's ETX products feature port options that serve different customer-defined priorities. The ETX-102 and ETX-202 carry Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet traffic, respectively, between the customer premises and the network edge. They maintain Ethernet as the access technology not only for packet-switched networks such as Ethernet and IP/MPLS, but also for legacy backbones such as SDH/SONET, where the edge device has an Ethernet tributary access port. The ETX-102 and ETX-202 allow for managed service with a scalable, granular solution, supporting Ethernet access rates up to 100 Mbps (for the ETX-102) and up to 1000 Mbps (for the ETX-202). This enables the service provider to offer Ethernet service at incremental access rates.

"Being carrier-owned, E-NTUs are service-oriented," Cazes concludes. "Providing capabilities that help the service provider to have better control on the service end-to-end while being price sensitive."

RAD Data Communications Ltd.