Hi Mike,
Let me preface by stating the the terms data CLECs, or
DLECs, along with other ISPs, national SPs, and regionals,
often lead to confusion, and rightfully so. This is because
there is no one in charge, not even the FCC and the PUCs,
making sure that their agendas remain separate and
discreetly identifiable, as, indeed, they increasingly are
not.
With proper licensing, franchising and permits in hand, each
is free to do whatever they choose to do, within the scopes
of those individual sanctioned boundaries. Some will attempt
to do it all.
I needed to state the foregoing because your questions
seemed to be, on the surface, skewed to one genre, only.
But they could be applied across the board, in a broader
context, as well. I'll attempt to satisfy both, but I'll do it in a
general way, avoiding any complications created by the
consideration of unbundled network element (UNE)
discussion, which maybe WTC would care to clarify for us
later on.
"And from what I gather now, the Data CLEC must also
be leasing the line on the other side of the CO too,
right?"
As a general rule, based on your citing of Data CLECs
such as Covad, Comdisco, Northpoint, Rhythms, etc.,
I'd say that was correct, but I would leave room for
some specialized flavors of data CLECs (DLECs) even for
this class of end user intermediate-speed delivery, who are,
in various ways, facilities based as well.
Wireless comes to mind, as well as some smaller local
companies like FTGX. But then you also have a growing
number of regional pullers and resellers, whose scopes are
often more limited than those of the nationals, and who, at
the same time do not address individual end user end point
payloads like the DSL plays, but whose business is to
deliver bulk and/or integrated transport for businesses.
And there are many instances where DLECs routes and
lines are pulled into BEL's COs in order to address the
"back end" interconnect requirements you've mentioned
(towards the core), as well.
But more often than not, the DSL-level DLECs you
mentioned will pay for transit on the edge and backbone
links, or "partner" with a QWST or LVLT or Williams, as
opposed to providing them at the physical level, themselves.
Of course, the QWSTs and LVLTs who have partnered
with the Covads and the Northpoints, etc., would provide
this kind of transit in those cities where both have presence
(that is, where both the DSL and the WAN provider
coexist).
In some instances the DSLs will pay for transit to a larger
national provider's backbone, via MFNX, who in turn
delivers to the national at the optical cross connect.
Previously, this was done off site (away from the CO),
primarily, but now it can be done inside the CO. The CO, in
effect, becomes a fiber-based "meet me" point, just like
those in colos, obviating many of the previous requirements
which caused providers' to go "in and out" of the CO
numerous times in order to interconnect with one another at
an offsite location, such as a carrier hotel or a colo.
BEL, in effect, has created neutral cross-connect zones
within its own buildings. This will undoubtedly have a
negative effect on some colo businesses whose primary
intent is/was to provide such a "meet me" service. This is
only the tip of the iceberg, when you stop to consider the
other implications of this agreement at the logistics and
internetworking levels. Most importantly, however, is
that it will open up the photonic layer for inter-carrier and
end user exploitation for the first time.
It's very incestuous at some point. In the future, when
lambdas (wavelengths) become networked, it will become
even more so, as you will not always be able to tell whose
"pipe" you are riding without a full time score keeper on the
payroll.
"Also the statement above, "...without having to go
through Bell Atlantic," makes no sense? Bell Atlantic owns
the twisted copper pair between the customer premises and
the CO. So that part of the Bell Atlantic network (which I
always assumed was the most valuable part until my
MFNX DD) still has to be leased out to the CLECs,
correct? "
Not necessarily. Here in the Last Mile thread, as well as in
some others which tend to focus on the delivery of home
services, such as AOL, ATHM, etc., the emphasis is usually
on residential and small business delivery platforms. This
general area of focus seems to be carried forward in your
questions.
But note how I started off this segment of the thread, by
stating that this was a blockbuster deal for the "commercial"
or business last mile space, having to do with business
service, as opposed to residential. And then there is the
obfuscation factor with regards to nomenclature, and just
what it is that distinguishes a DLEC from an ISP, and where
the boundaries are drawn between a regional provider of
bandwidth and a backbone provider or NSP.
To net it out, so to speak, competing data providers exist
outside the DSL group you mentioned, and these will be
providing optical as well as traditional ATM, IP services to
businesses and other SPs, to the exclusion of the Covads,
Northpoints, et al, by using fiber delivery which in many
cases will be joined in the BEL COs, as a result of this
agreement, with those of MFNX. MFNX in this context
becomes a least common denominator for many of the
DLECs, who are both residential and commercial, in scope,
as well as being regional and national.
To cover my bases with the regional and nationals, note the
relationships that MFNX has established with the LVLTs
and QWSTs, as well as with WMB/WCG. Like I said, it
gets to be very incestuous and difficult to grasp at an intuitive
level, when you consider all of the "partnering" (more like
mutually agreed to, integration) which is going on all around
us.
Granted, these concepts and actual goings on are taking
place in the larger urban areas first, where there is critical
mass to break the ice, but I can see this going deeper into
the national networking fabric, over time.
Regards, Frank Coluccio |
