Magnet Business has upgraded eight new telephone exchanges around the country, allowing them to receive symmetric DSL (SDSL) services.
The company said that business customers could make cost savings by using the technology instead of expensive leased lines.
As part of a local loop unbundling process, Magnet Business has put SDSL equipment into exchanges located in Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick. The company said it chose those exchanges because of the high density of businesses within the coverage area.
Symmetric broadband services offers the same upload and download speeds, unlike standard ADSL which has faster download than upload. SDSL is pitched at businesses that typically need to send very large files, host a website from their premises or to use applications such as voice over internet protocol (VoIP) where business-class call quality is required.
According to Magnet, until now businesses that needed a synchronous service had to pay between €1,000 and €2,000 per month for a leased line. The operator’s SDSL is priced below this level at €450 per month (excluding Vat) for a 2MB uncontended connection that includes line rental.
Louise McKeown, head of business sales at Magnet Business, said: “As files and applications become bigger and communication between geographically dispersed offices becomes more common, demand for symmetric high-speed services have increased substantially. This rollout is very much lead by this increased demand.”
She added: “Businesses are also calling for greater accountability and reliability when it comes to broadband providers and unbundling facilitates this because we control the service end to end.”
Magnet Networks is making an ongoing investment of €65m in its network rollout and now has more than 30 exchanges unbundled across the country, of which 12 are now enabled for SDSL. The operator’s national fibre optic network links Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Portlaoise and Waterford and interconnects with the Government’s metropolitan area networks.
By Gordon Smith
