Microwaves step in for ADSL

Vox Orion has launched Zeppelin Express ‚ a dedicated microwave access solution offering the quality of fibre at prices comparable to ADSL.

Small and medium-sized businesses and branch offices of large enterprises ‚ particularly in small towns ‚ are between a rock and a hard place when shopping for Internet connectivity giving them access to voice-over-IP and other Internet services.

Until now, ADSL has been the only affordable option, but it is a best-effort service delivering unreliable quality bandwidth when local exchanges are few and far between, over-subscribed and infrequently maintained. Fibre and Diginet leased circuits, on the other hand, offer uncontended quality, but at a considerable premium.

Uncontended, uncapped, unshaped

To solve their predicament, Vox Orion has launched Zeppelin Express ‚ a dedicated microwave access solution offering the uncontended quality of fibre at prices comparable to ADSL. ‚Bandwidth is uncapped and unshaped, giving SMEs and branch offices an endless supply of affordable bandwidth, no matter what protocol traffic they generate on the network,‚ says Jacques du Toit, MD of Vox Orion.

Du Toit explains that wireless backhaul installation costs are far lower than ADSL, and these savings are passed on to customers for affordability. He adds that the service comes with guaranteed quality, because it uses 28 Gigahertz spectrum frequencies, licensed and awarded to Vox’s technology partner, Comsol. ‚Unlike the technologies employed by many other wireless providers serving small towns, licensed spectrum is allocated to a closed group of providers, so quality issues like jitter and latency can be controlled and eliminated.‚

Choices

He says customers have a choice of using the solution solely as a least-cost routing voice service, or as a converged voice with uncapped and unshaped data service. ‚Or they can add additional Vox Orion products like hosted IP telephony and remote security monitoring, for added value.‚

Vox Orion’s Zeppelin Express is currently available in Durban, Richards Bay, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane and Rustenburg, with plans to expand to East London, Bloemfontein and Nelspruit.

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