Telephony Magazine Recognizes Actelis Networks’ Customer LightEdge Solutions With 2007 Award for Innovation in Technology Deployment
Actelis Networks®, the leading global supplier of Carrier Ethernet over Copper™ solutions, reinforced its #1 global brand position today by announcing that Telephony magazine, a Penton Media publication, has awarded LightEdge Solutions®, Inc. the 2007 Telephony Innovation Award for Innovative Technology Deployment. A longtime, valued customer of Actelis Networks, LightEdge Solutions offers managed voice, data and IT services over an MPLS network. To extend the reach of these services, the company deployed Actelis Networks’ EFMplus™ technology so that it could offer bandwidth above standard T-1 lines without having to extend fiber all the way to the business. This competitive service provider is making these managed services available to small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) in the Midwest and Southwest.
The Telephony Innovation Awards — given for the first time at Telephony LIVE: The 2007 Telecom Summit in Dallas — recognizes service providers who have developed unique or first-to-market offerings that utilize technology or address customers’ needs in a new way. Focused on five key categories, the innovations recognized come in many forms: design, delivery, pricing, bundling, packaging or customer service and address various market segments, including consumers, corporate enterprises and SMBs. Award recipients were recognized at a special presentation held during Telephony LIVE on October 10.
“We established these awards to recognize innovation in the industry at a time when all service providers are trying to differentiate themselves in a highly competitive market,” said Telephony Publisher Mark Hickey. “The award winners are companies who chose not to just follow the technology curve, but to bring their customers services that meet their needs in distinctive ways.”
LightEdge Solutions deployed Actelis’ ML600 Ethernet Access Devices (EADs) and ML100 and ML1300 transport and aggregation switches to better serve the growing bandwidth needs of its SMB customers. By utilizing Actelis’ products — built with EFMplus technology — as a cost-effective alternative to slower T-1 lines, business customers can connect quickly to the LightEdge IP network via symmetrical Ethernet access connections for high-speed Internet access, Voice-over-IP (VoIP), remote managed back-up and security services, as well as retrieve applications and data on servers within LightEdge’s data center.
“With T-1 lines delivering only 1.5 Mbps, we would have to either add line cards to the router or change routers completely to upgrade the bandwidth service of a customer,” said Kris Harris, vice president of operations at LightEdge Solutions. “The Actelis carrier Ethernet solution is efficient because we can leverage the same equipment for all service levels. This provides our business customers the ability to quickly upgrade their bandwidth as much as tenfold without the need for additional equipment or the time necessary to process changes. When customers need more than a bonded 2xT-1 line or have foreseeable scalability needs, the Actelis option makes a lot of sense.”
“Carrier Ethernet over copper technology has become a popular way for service providers to extend the reach of their networks to offer more bandwidth more easily and cost effectively,” said Telephony Editor-in-Chief Carol Wilson. “LightEdge has gone beyond the standard offering, however, with managed services that deliver data networking, IT hosting/management and hosted VoIP services that scale on demand, taking full advantage of what the Actelis technology can deliver. This makes the service very appealing to small to mid-sized businesses that want sophisticated service offerings without the capital expense or need for an IT staff.”
Telephony received more than 80 nominations for its Telephony Innovation Awards. The process was handled by the mBLAST customer relationship management system. Judging was done by members of the Telephony editorial staff and guest judges Teresa Mastrangelo of Broadbandtrends.com and Cindy Whelan of Current Analysis.
For Actelis Networks, this marks the third award the company has won in 2007 for its EFMplus technology. In June, the company won the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Award for Market Leadership in the Global Ethernet in the First Mile over Copper Segment. That same month Actelis won the International Engineering Consortium’s prestigious 2007 InfoVision Award for its EFMplus intelligent access technology. In the category of “Metro Network Technologies and Services,” the award recognized the capabilities of Actelis’ EFMplus technology as the best of breed among the best innovators of the world.
“Actelis is truly honored that Telephony has recognized our valued customer, LightEdge Solutions, with this prestigious award,” said Mehmet Balos, president of worldwide marketing, sales and services, who was on hand at the awards ceremony in Dallas to congratulate LightEdge Solutions. “Actelis is committed to providing all of its customers with standardized, world-class carrier Ethernet over copper solutions that are backed by world-class customer support. We believe this award once again reinforces the company’s position in the marketplace as the number one provider of carrier Ethernet over copper solutions.”
About LightEdge Solutions
LightEdge Solutions®, Inc. is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, with additional offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Moline, Ill; Kansas City, Mo; Minneapolis, Minn; and Omaha, Neb. LightEdge Solutions empowers businesses to be more productive, mobile and effective with managed voice and data services delivered through a multi-homed, Cisco Powered Network data center environment. By out-tasking voice, data and IT services, small and medium-sized businesses are able to realize unparalleled scalability and reliability with a lower total cost of ownership and reduced administration. LightEdge Solutions® is a registered trademark of LightEdge Solutions, Inc. For more information, visit www.lightedge.com.
About Actelis Networks
Actelis Networks® is the global leader of Carrier Ethernet over Copper™ solutions. The company’s award-winning products combine innovative EFMplus™ copper transmission technology with a complete set of standards-based carrier Ethernet switching capabilities that extend the reach of Ethernet services over the existing voice-grade copper network. Actelis’ EFMplus technology employs advanced digital signal processing techniques and link level dynamic spectral management (DSM) to create reliable, high-performance Ethernet that are 100% complementary to the legacy services already deployed in the copper network. Actelis’ carrier Ethernet switching capabilities are certified compliant with Metro Ethernet Forum MEF 9 and MEF 14 specifications. As the industry leader, Actelis’ solutions are deployed in more than 30 countries, on five continents, around the world. Actelis Networks is a privately held company headquartered in Silicon Valley, California. Actelis Networks and the Actelis Networks logo are registered trademarks and Carrier Ethernet over Copper and EFMplus are trademarks of Actelis Networks, Inc. One or more U.S. and foreign patents pending cover the product described above. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. For more information, visit www.actelis.com.