RIO Networks Selects ZyXEL MSANs

ZyXEL Communications announced that RIO Networks, a provider of innovative communications services, has selected their Multi-Service Access Node (MSAN) product line to deliver high-speed Internet services to their customers. ZyXEL will provide RIO Networks with a host of products from its MSAN product line and CPEs, enabling RIO Networks to offer its customers an unprecedented level of value-added high-speed networking services.

EMBARQ Logistics, the distribution and supply chain arm of Embarq Corporation, distributor of ZyXEL's products for telcos and service providers, will be involved in the order fulfillment process with RIO Networks.

"We recognized early on the need to be able to deliver high bandwidth applications for IPTV, videoconferencing and multimedia solutions to our customers," said RIO Network's president, Mark Bilton-Smith. "After a thorough process of due diligence, we chose ZyXEL for its breadth of product offerings as well as their flexible, cost-effective and most importantly - scalable platform."

RIO Networks will deploy ZyXEL's end-to-end access solution including their IES-5000 MSAN with ADSL2+, VDSL2 and POTs line cards and their ADSL2+ gateway, the P660HW. The IES-5000 enables RIO Networks to offer ultra high-speed (50Mbps) Internet over VDSL2 in the short loop and bonded ADSL2+ technology for the longer loop; super high-speed Internet access using ADSL2+ technology for longer loop as well as VoIP service using a POTS card, alleviating the need to install VoIP adapters in homes and offices.

Other key advantages of the ZyXEL solution include:

Platform with all QoS features for IPTV, Video on Demand (VoD)
Increased network stability with a decrease in network costs
Reduced support cost and down time with increased network utilization and profit per user
Reliable remote management and troubleshooting
Solid technical service and support

"The beauty of the ZyXEL solution is that we simply change line cards and customers can receive both phone and Internet on one cable for a much lower cost. We can now offer two levels of bandwidth support that can be deployed with a VDSL2 line card with 50Mbps for customers close to the base and for customers further away we can use a ADSL2+ card and still utilize the same platform," noted Bilton-Smith. "We now have a scalable solution that allows us to add capacity where we need to for an optimized investment that is good for the customer and good for our bottom line."

In partnering with ZyXEL, RIO Networks had very specific objectives in mind, including increasing monthly sales revenues, increasing network utilization and reducing costs. RIO wanted to offer public switched telephone network (PSTN) voice services with lower costs and without the need for massive infrastructure changes. Additionally, RIO wanted to offer customers high-speed Internet, video and VoIP services and wanted an easy-to-use, unified configuration that offered remote management capabilities.

"To be competitive and to truly differentiate ourselves in the marketplace we needed to be able to offer our customers optimized communication solutions designed for today and tomorrow," said Bilton-Smith. "To do that, we needed to be able to provide customers with a cost-effective and scalable platform that was easy to deploy and upgrade. With ZyXEL's comprehensive suite of products we now have a platform that allows us to address a wide range of customer needs from those requiring super high-speed bandwidth as well as lower speed bandwidth."

With ZyXEL's MSAN, RIO Networks’ residential and business customers will now be able to choose which level of broadband service they want. Through one chassis, the company can now simply change line cards and offer a VoIP option for an additional fee. The customer will see a seamless transition from one application to another.

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