KVH launch

August 1, 2004

KVH Telecom (head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Rakesh Bhasin), a provider of integrated communications and IT management services, has announced that it will launch "Ether-MAN Plus," a next-generation Ethernet service on August 1, 2004. Ether-MAN Plus is an innovative service combining the reliability of a leased line service with the flexibility of a wide-area Ethernet service. The service offering includes a service level agreement (SLA) with a bandwidth guarantee.

Ether-MAN Plus is based on EoMPLS (Ethernet over Multi Protocol Label Switching)* technology delivered by KVH's Atrica-based optical Ethernet network. Through the rich set of QoS (Quality of Service) management capabilities, the network functions as a multi-service platform, supporting mission-critical applications such as data, voice, and video transmission. In addition, the network is configured with end-to-end redundancy from the customer premise equipment to the backbone network.

Offering end-to-end connection paths with fast link protection across the network, Ether-MAN Plus constitutes a new generation flexible Ethernet service with the high-reliability of leased line services that existing Ethernet services do not provide.

Depending on the customer's requirements and network environment, Ether-MAN Plus can be configured as a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint topology. Interfaces such as T1/E1, 10Base-T, 100Base-TX and 1000Base-SX are supported with a variety of options.

For this service, the circuit termination equipment installed at the customer premise will be one-third the size of the existing equipment and can support up to 16 Ethernet 10/100base circuits. The equipment also supports multiple services, including voice (KVH VoiceLINE), so that additional new services can be provisioned rapidly.

Service pricing includes port charges and bandwidth charges. In particular, at the 1Gbps interface category, 16 different bandwidths are available between 10Mbps to 800Mbps to meet customers' varying needs. The customer can flexibly increase bandwidth from 10Mbps to 1 Gbps, without a required interface change.

Dr. Katsumi Yoshida, Representative Director & President of Radianz Japan, a company that participated in the controlled introduction phase said, "I am very impressed with Ether-MAN Plus, which combines the high reliability of a leased line service with the flexibility and cost-efficiency of Ethernet. As the leading provider of connectivity services to financial institutions globally, we look to save significant time, space and cost. The equipment installed is neat and space-efficient, and delivers enhanced functionality to accommodate future needs."

Rakesh Bhasin, President and CEO of KVH, noted "Customer needs for reliable and secure service for mission-critical applications have been growing. Using cutting-edge EoMPLS technologies, Ether-MAN Plus provides the high reliability and flexibility that customers have been waiting for. I am confident that Ether-MAN Plus will help customers quickly build and manage top quality networks that meet their growing market demands."

* EoMPLS (Ethernet over MPLS) is a method to transmit an Ethernet frame through MPLS of high-speed packet transmission technology. EoMPLS improves management of traffic engineering, trouble resistance, and scalability in a large-scale Ethernet network.

Source: KVH Telecom