Lucent Technologies Inc. has become the latest DSL Access Multiplexer vendor to unveil a family of small form factor DSLAMs designed to be deployed outside the central office.
The vendor last week introduced two Stinger LS DSLAM models that are approximately half the size of Lucent's original Stinger model.
All major DSLAM vendors are coming up with smaller units that can be installed in small to midsize central offices (CO) and multitenant buildings (MTU), says Adam Guglielmo, an analyst with consultancy TeleChoice Inc. in Denver, Colo.
"It's an easy way for providers to get around the distance limitations of DSL and up the performance," he explains.
This is especially true of the MTU market, Guglielmo notes. Providers can run fiber from their COs out to a small DSLAM in the basement of an MTU and give enterprises in the building business-class DSL with value-added services such as voice over DSL and video.
The LS models also are geared towards small COs in second and third tier markets, says Bruce Miller, senior product manager for the Stinger LS family. "The original Stinger FS was the densest DSLAM in the industry and it was too large for some applications," Miller explains.
The Stinger LS comes in two models. The LS Model 1 can be mounted in 19-inch racks and has five line-interface module slots that allow for up to 240 ports. The LS Model 2 can be mounted in 23-inch racks and has seven module slots supporting up to 336 ports.
Both LS models have a 10-inch depth, which is shallower than the original model and makes them wall-mountable. No rear access is required for the new Stingers, and all provisioning can be handled from the front end.
Line cards available for the Stinger LS include: 24-port asymmetric DSL (full rate and G.lite), 32-port HDSL2, 32-port ISDN DSL, 48-port symmetric DSL (SDSL) and 48-port G.lite.
"We see DSL in general moving out closer to the customer," says Miller. "The further you move from the CO, the less density you need." Nevertheless, both LS models, like the original Stinger, have an ATM switching fabric and support ATM and frame relay from the customer premise to the CO.
The Stinger LS is shipping now. List pricing is $423 per SDSL port and $598 per ADSL port.