Covad Brings T1 to New Markets

Covad Communications Group, Inc. announced on Tuesday that it has expanded its high-speed Internet business services into ten new metropolitan markets.

The Santa Clara, Calif. provider of broadband services for small- to medium-sized businesses said it is now offering its “TeleXtend” brand of T1 service in Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, the combined marketplace of Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo., New York, Philadelphia, Raleigh, N.C., Sacramento, Calif., San Diego and Washington.

The new service is available at three choices of speeds: 384 Kbps, 768 Kbps, and 1.5 Mbps. Prices start at $449 per month for a two-year contract after rebate for the 384 Kbps service, and run to $749 per month at the high end. Service includes Internet access, e-mail, Web hosting and remote dial-up. Added services such as the TeleDefend Firewall and Firewall with VPN are available for an additional charge.

The new service is available for ordering immediately and is currently being set up under 30 days, said Todd Kiehn, senior product manager for TeleXtend. Covad also offers a Web-based tool to monitor the status of the installation.

A big advantage for the new TeleXtend service is in its ability to overcome access speed barrier in traditional DSL, said Kiehn. TeleXtend access speed is not capped by how far you are located away from the central office.

“TeleXtend uses a different loop technology, so its not using your standard telephone loops,” said Kiehn. “Its using a T1-type loop that is conditioned by the telephone company and engineered by the telephone company to provide up to 1.5 Mbps to as far out as you want to go.”

Covad also sees an advantage for the enterprise in its aggressive pricing of T1 service, as much as 30 percent below that of competing providers, said Kiehn.