IP is the future of the IT service space. IP will handle Voice, Data, and the way in which information is transferred throughout the enterprise. In order to meet the future needs of clients, where speeds of 100Gb will be needed to transfer information, AT&T and TW Telecom are both working to build fiber to businesses near their network across the United States. Each company is approaching this goal in a different way. TW Telecom has built an Investment building list to reach their goal, while AT&T has outlined and branded “Project Velocity-IP (VIP)” as their goal.
TW Telecom connects over 17,000 buildings with on-net fiber services throughout the United States, becoming the 3rd largest Ethernet provider in the country. Generally a conservative company, their network expansion is built upon calculated costs and detailed planning. To accelerate their network in a well-planned and well-executed manner, TW has built an investment-building list. The investment building list details the cost it will take TW Telecom to build fiber services into each specific office. Since costs and build routes are already completed sales team, both indirect and direct, are able to offer discounted or on-net pricing to their clients. In offering discounted pricing, and a planned effort, TW can target customers across the country that are near net and would be eligible for on-net services.
Project Velocity-IP is a $14 Billion fiber investment program. The end goal of this project is to connect over 1 Million businesses with Fiber Ethernet services. AT&T’s goal is to increase speeds for fiber services with current clients, while increasing their network reach to new clients who are near their network. In doing so, over 57 million customer locations will be upgraded with additional fiber services. California and Texas are the two leading states that will receive the most network upgrades. Each state will receive $1.15 Billion and 1 Billion respectively.
The growth of Fiber connectivity will allow clients to expand IT department services into cutting edge technologies that require a stable, secure, and scalable service. An example where IP and connectivity has become important is the Cloud and Hosting services. Hosted services, whether a Cloud Server, Data Center, or off-site phone system require bandwidth intensive services. As companies continue to move to this model, fiber connectivity will be required to connect businesses to their critical applications. Both AT&T and TW Telecom understand the future of the telecommunication industry and are investing accordingly in their already extensive networks.