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CLECs Washing Those RBOCs Out of Their Hair
[October 12, 2005]

CLECs Washing Those RBOCs Out of Their Hair


By TED GLANZER
TMCnet Communications and Broadband Columnist
 
To be sure, the RBOCs have never made life easy on CLECs, what with their expensive collocation fees and limits on customer access.  With the proposed mega mergers between SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI nearing final regulatory approval, CLECs lives don’t figure to be any easier.


 
Many believe that the survival of CLECs will depend on their ability to free themselves from the dependence on the RBOCs.

 
Recent reports indicate that the time may be now.
 
Indeed, CopperCom recently announced a comprehensive transition program for CLECs faced with the need to migrate from UNE-P to a facilities–based model.
 
Earlier this month, XO Communications became the largest company to join Stealth Communications’ Voice Peering Fabric, which enables members to exchange VoIP traffic without relying on the PSTN. 
 
Facilities-based CLEC Covista Communications continued the trend on Wednesday with its announcement that it has selected MetaSwitch to integrate a next-generation network into its local and long distance network infrastructure.
 
The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based telecommunications service provider is one of the largest remaining CLECs, with 200,000 subscribers and switching centers in three metropolitan areas.
 
Convista is converting from UNE-P to packet-based switching with MetaSwitch’s Class 4/5 distributed softswitch and UC9000 hosted IP applications platform.
 
The conversion will reduce operating costs and enable Covista to offer a Web portal for unified communications and IP Centrex.
 
More importantly, according to a statement, the move to packet-based switching eliminates Covedia’s dependence on the RBOCs for the company’s subscribers still served by RBOC switching facilities.
 
Perhaps CLECs will actually reach some of the potential that so many people predicted for them with the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
 
What advantages and business implications do carrier-level peering points offer over dedicated fiber? How secure are peering connections? For the answers to those questions and more, mark your calendar to attend the VoIP Peering Summit at this fall’s INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo, which runs October 24-27, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
 
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Ted Glanzer is assistant editor for TMCnet. For more articles by Ted Glanzer, please visit:
 
 

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