Upgrading Legacy E1/T1 Services with Ethernet

Government agencies are deploying many new applications that would benefit from the higher bandwidth and lower costs of carrier Ethernet. These range from the mundane, like automated permit tracking systems, to critical applications such as emergency response and resource management. Yet, many government departmental offices are stuck with Ethernet LANs and PBXs connected via slow legacy E1/T1 services. Such services can be readily upgraded to carrier Ethernet to deliver a next generation IP network over the same infrastructure, avoiding the disruption and expense of optical equipment.

Some departments already have access to a private copper infrastructure, in which case the deployment of Actelis’ Carrier Ethernet over Copper™ solutions will achieve a substantial gain in bandwidth, up to eight fold, compared with T1/E1 over the same pairs. When the sites are being connected over “dry copper” from the local incumbent service provider, the government will also enjoy significant cost savings over the T1/E1 service.

The Actelis ML series of Ethernet Access Devices (EADs) support point-to-point circuit emulation services for attachment of T1/E1, as well as Ethernet CPE equipment. Governmental offices can connect both legacy PBXs and IP/Ethernet routers directly to the ML EAD as the system supports both Ethernet and T1/E1 interfaces. This simple upgrade will deliver up to 100 Mbps over the same copper pairs that give only 6 Mbps using T1/E1 transport technology.

• Seamlessly extends connections between governmental offices with Ethernet access services, providing an eight fold increase in network capacity.
  • Can be deployed quickly without the expense or delay of installing a new fiber access network.
• Support for circuit emulation ensures compatibility with legacy equipment via the T1/E1 interfaces, while providing interoperability and scalability with the Ethernet service ports.
• Certified for use with either private copper cabling owned by the governmental office or "dry pairs" leased from the local telephone company.

The departmental office LANs, typically running at 10/100 Mbps, can be directly connected with the headquarter’s Ethernet network over existing copper cabling. By replacing the legacy T1/E1 circuits, bandwidth is increased at the same time as responsiveness between the branch offices and headquarters LAN, while reducing IT costs and complexity of the WAN. In addition to providing high-speed Internet access and data connectivity to the remote branches, the extra bandwidth provided by the Ethernet over copper lets enterprises extend broadband applications such as video conferencing and IP telephony to branch offices. Additional IT cost savings are achieved by centralizing key applications such as email, file backup and database replication to gain further operational cost savings.