News & Update: SOGEA – PSTN is dead, long live SOGEA

SOGEA – PSTN is dead, long live SOGEA

BT Openreach has notified the industry that the full commercial launch of their new “stand-alone broadband” product for UK ISPs – Single Order Generic Ethernet Access (SOGEA) – has officially started, which they said “marks the beginning of the end” for the old analogue telephone network aka the landline or PSTN phone service.

SOGEA stands for “Single Order Generic Ethernet Access” which is importannt for two reasons: (1) Single Order means you no longer have to order an analogue phone line or PSTN line in order to get an Internet fixed line service and (2) The GEA Generic Ethernet Access bit means that this product is an Ethernet based product and benefits from the features, reliability and SLA’s associated with Ethernet.

Talking with Mike Reed, Technical Support Engineer here at Datanet, he added the following: “Datanet would like to introduce you to the latest addition to our selection of connectivity options. It’s perfect for branch offices and SME businesses. With low latency and high throughput – up to 20 Mbps symmetric – SOGEA is the right choice for you. We can install it in as little as 10 working days with no need for a site survey. It complements our Managed WAN service nicely and is an ideal replacement for any legacy copper-based EFM services that you may have.

One of our clients, the IT Manager for a chain of retail stores, said “Datanet’s SOGEA service offered us the right level of performance in our smaller branches and as this is a reliable Ethernet based service, helped us optimise our costs”.

Another key use case for our SOGEA service is to connect your office to the Internet via your rack at Datanet’s Aspen House data centre in Fleet – enabling your technicians to centrally manage security and performance via what is effectively a private wire to the data centre.

There are two complementary versions of SOGEA: for businesses requiring a low cost, quick to deploy entry level leased line or private circuit alternative we have the point to point SOGEA Ethernet and for the more usual broadband Internet alternative we have SOGEA Broadband.

Main features and benefits of SOGEA Ethernet

SOGEA is the future for Branch Office and Home Office fast reliable Ethernet access:

• Fast to deploy and low cost alternative to traditional leased lines and private circuits (actually the next generation alternative to EFM)
• This is a point to point service – for example, a direct connection from your branch office or shop to your head office network e.g. a LAN extension
• Symmetrical speeds of up to 20 Mbps – ideal for branch offices, Internet access and phone systems
• Business SLA with guaranteed priority return to service
• 24/7 UK based support and monitoring
• Installation in as little as 10 working days (does not usually require a site survey)
• Together with our 4G based Ethernet service provides “instant” branch office connectivity and very fast recovery time
• Everybody in the shops and branch offices can now experience a fast reliable experience

A few typical applications for your branch office or shops

• Fast reliable connectivity to company network
• Reliable noise free connection to IP phone system
• Private wire connection to company LAN
• Private network or Internet access for shops and branch offices
• Backing up the branch or shop network to offsite storage
• Whatever you used the old analogue PSTN phone line for or more expensive entry level private circuits, can now be done by IP over SOGEA