Ericsson will provide Jiangxi Nanchang Telecom with Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) lines in the capital Nanchang, mostly for residential subscribers. The ADSL lines will be delivered using Ericsson's new ultra-compact, highly scalable Ethernet DSL Access solution, a cornerstone of Ericsson's Public Ethernet offering.

The solution enables standard ADSL lines to be offered economically at smaller sites (starting from eight subscribers) as well as medium to large sites (up to thousands of subscribers). Ericsson uses Ethernet technology to provide very cost-effective high-bandwidth links in the 'second mile' network.

"This second contract for our Ethernet-based DSL access solution in China is further proof of our Public Ethernet concept," said Ove Anebygd, Head of Broadband Access at Ericsson. "It offers a highly cost-effective yet low-risk way for operators like Jiangxi Nanchang Telecom to meet demand from residential and small business subscribers for always-on broadband access."

Ericsson's Ethernet DSL Access solution enables fixed network operators to deploy the required second-mile bandwidth at less than half of the cost of equivalent ATM-based bandwidth. By avoiding concentration in the DSLAM and connecting directly to an Ethernet aggregation network, the new solution opens up the possibility to support high bandwidth-demanding services without DSLAM bottlenecks, while at the same time reducing transport costs by a factor of ten. This dramatically alters the economics of rolling out DSL and enables operators to address the 'second wave' of broadband subscribers profitably, following the initial early-adopter wave.

A key advantage of providing DSL services in this way is that existing standardized DSL interfaces are unchanged. The subscriber simply uses a standard DSL modem, which the Ethernet connection from the PC or LAN plugs into in the normal way.