Covad Communications Adds Cities Through New Edge Networks

Covad Communications is working with the EarthLink-owned rural network specialist to grow its footprint, a key differentiator with small business customers.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [June 18, 2008]

San Jose, Calif.-based Covad Communications announced that it has expanded its footprint though a partnership with Vancouver, Wash.-based New Edge Networks.

"The wholesale business entails selling to DSPs and ISPs and CLECS and business services companies," explains Lisa Graham, Covad senior vice president and general manager. "We've always sold services to the distributed enterprise, and that customer wants the biggest footprint possible. This deal puts our T-1 product in 400 COs nationwide that are incremental to ours. It allows us to do this without building out an expensive network."

In the future, Graham says, the company wants to offer even more. "The direction we're moving in is to offer higher bandwidth products and MPLS-enabled products to our wholesale partners. Customers now want more than bonded T-1 lines. They want 3 Mbps and 5 Mbps and 10 Mbps data services."

"We're Americans, and Americans don't want to buy the slower car," says Sal Cinquegrani, head of corporate communications for New Edge Networks. "In this information era, we're always looking for more bandwidth."

Applications are driving demand. "Applications enablesmall businesses to be more efficient with their operations, but those applications need to ride on a solid network."

It's a familiar pattern. "At first there were e-mails," notes Cinquegrani. "Then, customers wanted longer e-mails, then they added attachments. Now, we're seeing video attachments and suddenly bandwidth requirements have increased significantly. What was adequate in the past is now so poor that it creates bottlenecks today."

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