Qwest says it heard from its wireless service provider customers, and it's responding with a Qwest Adaptive Broadband offer to help them meet increasing data demands from smartphones and other devices.
Unveiled yesterday, Qwest Adaptive Broadband basically lets carriers migrate from where they are today on TDM backhaul to where they need to be tomorrow on Ethernet, according to Cliff Dinwiddie, business development director at Qwest Wholesale.
Wireless data traffic is expected to double every year through 2014. That's great news for wireless service providers and great for backhaul providers, he says. "It's that huge increase in demand that necessitates an offering like this," he says.
Wireless service providers are finding different demands depending on geographical areas. Demand for data may be higher at certain times at stadiums or around hotels and other gathering spots. Qwest's offer allows its customers to migrate to Ethernet where they need to do so, in a surgical fashion. "What wireless service providers need is bandwidth and we think there is a better, more efficient way to achieve that," he says.
Qwest promises the migration will save operators money, too. Qwest isn't naming specific customers at this time for the Adaptive Broadband offering.
Under Qwest's Fiber to the Cell (FTTC) initiative, the company is building out fiber to customer cell sites and expects to serve about 2,000 sites by the end of the year in the 14 states where it owns facilities.
Back in March when Verizon Wireless announced backhaul partners, Qwest was among them. Verizon Wireless is using Qwest Mobile Ethernet Backhaul, or fiber to the cell site, in its LTE network.