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Networks & Infrastructure
IP the Answer for Warwick Valley Telephone
Carrier Embraces Ethernet for Triple Play Service Delivery
by Jim Barthold
When it comes to delivering a competitive – or slightly better –
triple play offering of voice, video and high-speed data
services, Warwick Valley Telephone Company (WVTC) has
decided you can’t beat IP.
“We’re in an IP-centric world. If the technology guys haven’t
caught onto that, they really should be focusing on what
products are IP and how you can leverage the product,” said
Keith Scarzafava, director of network technology at WVTC.
The 104-year-old combination ILEC/CLEC is using Pannaway
Technologies’ active Ethernet fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) and
ADSL2+ technologies in its CLEC territory and plans to make
triple place VoIP, high-speed data and high definition TV
(HDTV) available to about 20,000 additional subscribers in
areas of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the
companies said.
WVTC has two networks: a gigabit Ethernet ring with capable
of running up to 10 gigabits of data and an IP ring with a
central management system.
“When we decided to look at a platform to deliver our triple
play services, one of the things that was attractive to me was
that I could have one vendor, one platform, one place to call
and not have to stitch together multiple solutions,” said
Scarzafava. “I can roll out ADSL2+ -- I haven’t yet, but we are
testing it; I can deliver POTS; and I can deliver fiber-to-the-
home triple play services all using that same IP core that we
built.”
Pannaway, he said, became the carrier’s “vendor of choice” to
deliver triple play services over an FTTH network.
“The future plans are to evaluate our strategic direction here
as a company and see where we go next with that
platform,” he said.
One thing is certain, he said: there will be no return to the
previous method of using ATM for triple play.
“When we started there was no strictly IP solution, there were
deployments of a solution,” Scarzafava said of the company’s
pioneering work. “IP has really leveled the playing field where
you can go standards-based. You get to choose.”
Besides that, he said, the technology is just more advanced.
“Back in the day it was cumbersome; it wasn’t as tolerant and
the loop links couldn’t take you as far,” he said.
IP and FTTH enabled the small player to not only meet what
was being provided by incumbent cable operator Cablevision
Systems and newcomer Verizon, but exceed it.
“The only way to beat them is to leapfrog what they’re doing
today and then deliver products and services that are
different than what they do,” he said.
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