PSINet one step closer to terabit dreams
David Kopf, May 13, 1998
americasnetwork.com
Internet service provider (ISP) PSINet Inc. (Herndon, Va.) has added 18 dark
fiber optic strands to its network, which it will integrate with its 10,000-mile,
nationwide OC-48 network (acquired last February) and its 12,000-mile,
transatlantic STM-1 network (acquired last March). PSINet acquired the fiber
from Metromedia Fiber Network (New York) for $33.2 million, with a
contract that will release the fiber to the ISP for the next 20 years.
The 18 newly acquired, dark fiber strands cover the New York City
metropolitan area (four strands), the Washington metropolitan area (four
strands), and the route between the two East Coast points (10 strands),
according to a company spokesperson. The New York-to-Washington link
will include multiple drop-offs to Newark, N.J.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Wilmington,
Del.; and Baltimore, Md.
Using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), PSINet's new fiber will be
able to carry 96 Gbps, and the ISP says that it expects improvements in dense
wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) will let it increase bandwidth to 2
Tbps. Why all the network muscle? Internet telephony, according to William L.
Schrader, PSINet's chairman, president and chief executive officer.
"I anticipate that more than 80% of all voice traffic in the world will be carried
by the Internet within five years," Schrader says. "While some switched voice
traffic may remain on the traditional PSTN [public switched telephone
network], I believe the entire market will be dominated by the Internet. In
order to service these burgeoning demands, PSINet requires large amounts of
capacity in this corridor."
Despite the newly added fiber, PSINet has not yet announced any voice/IP
services, but expects to do so later this year, the company says.
In any case, PSINet still has to light the fiber. The ISP plans to buy and
activate the optical equipment necessary to bring the network online over the
next five years. PSINet expects lighting its dark fiber to cost approximately
$45 million. A portion of PSINet's recently completed $600 million financing
will pay for the fiber and equipment, the company says.
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