What is Dim Fiber?
Optical fiber only partially lit in a fiber optic transmission system (FOTS) employing wavelength division multiplexing (WDM).WDM technology can support a considerable number of wavelengths running simultaneously over a single optical fiber within a cable comprising perhaps a great number of fibers. A dim fiber is one over which not all available wavelengths have been lit and which, therefore, has excess capacity.

Why Dim Fiber?

A dim Fiber customer gets assigned a wavelength in a fiber span that provides flexibility and performance similar to dark fiber with the following benefits:

• Use of fiber span not limited to a specific bandwidth, just a specific wavelength, thus the customer has more control.
• Reduced equipment on the circuit reducing potential outages.
• Reduced equipment on the circuit reducing processing latency.
• Dark Fiber performance at a lower cost.
• Dark Fiber performance with a variety of contract terms closer to customer experience with lit services.

Why CFN Services Dim Fiber Solutions?

• With CFN Services as your partner on your dim fiber plans – CFN will manage and monitor the health of the fiber span via other circuits running on the same fiber span.

• CFN takes away the hassle and worry of managing an Outside Plant Network such as relocations, construction, outages, etc. by managing the full solution so as a customer you get only the benefit of dim without the down side.

• For longer spans, CFN can provide mid-span regeneration reducing equipment, new collocations and operational cost and complexity for the customer.

Contact CFN Services to see if Dim Fiber is the solution for you: Contact CFN Now

Herndon, VA August 31, 2009 – CFN Services, in support of the Yankee Group 4G World, is sponsoring the Mobile Backhaul Summit at 4G World. The summit will be held September 15, 2009 3:30 – 4:40 at McCormick Place, Chicago. There is still time to register for this event.  Contact CFN Services 703-788-6633 – backhaul@cfnservices.com for more information. We have a very limited amount of discounted passes left – contact CFN Today

Offer Telx customers In New York and Chicago a complete, low-latency financial networking solution

Key Highlights:

• New relationship joins CFN Services’ low latency network with Telx’s proximity hosting advantages.

• CFN’s ultra low latency solution guarantees a round-trip connection between Telx’s NY metro and Chicago facilities that is at or below 16.6 milliseconds.

• Telx customers gain direct access to a leading network integrator and design firm serving the financial services industry.

• A common carrier-neutral stance provides CFN and Telx customers with optimal solutions.

NEW YORK and CHICAGO (May 27, 2009) –  Telx, one of the largest and fastest growing domestic interconnection and colocation data center operators, announced today that custom network provider CFN Services has added network nodes for its ultra low latency financial network in Telx facilities at 60 Hudson Street and 111 8th Avenue in New York City as well as in 600 South Federal Street in Chicago. These new nodes allow Telx Financial Exchange customers colocated in New York, New Jersey, and Chicago – including Telx customers colocated in the company’s facility at 350 East Cermak Street – access to CFN’s ultra low latency network, which guarantees speeds of 16.6 milliseconds or better.

The addition of CFN into Telx facilities helps Telx customers gain an optimized network configuration to ensure the ultra low latency for all pieces of the trading process from market data feeds, ticker plants, exchanges and other key trading platforms. These services can provide the competitive advantage that financial companies need to gain an edge in today’s market. CFN Services will also work to implement a customized plan to ensure that the network configurations are optimal based on each customer’s individual criteria.

“In the current market, financial services companies need every advantage available to thrive,” says Eric Shepcaro, CEO of Telx. “The suite of financial service providers and ultra low latency networks, such as those offered by CFN, are critical to our customers’ success. Telx remains committed to seeking out service providers who can help our customers realize their full business potential.”

In addition, the carrier-neutral stance adopted by both Telx and CFN provides added advantage for customers: by bringing a wide variety of service providers to the table to compete for your business, Telx helps customers get the lowest available service price with high-quality proximity hosting; while CFN creates custom networks utilizing optimal spans from available routes based on the customer requirements regarding latency, price, optimization, performance, and time to install.

“In addition to ultra low latency networking, CFN offers unique, performance-level SLAs that guarantee a specific latency today and network improvements that guarantee latency improvements over time,” said Wil Tirado Vice President of Engineering for CFN. “When obtained from within a Telx colocation facility, customers are assured a long-range business plan for growth that accommodates both current and future needs for decreased latency and increase space, power, and cooling over time.”

About Telx
Telx is a world-class leader in providing interconnectivity solutions through their network-neutral and network rich, colocation facilities.  With over a dozen facilities in North America, Telx offers cost effective networking solutions for customers to seamlessly access diverse global networks and exchange information in a secure and reliable environment.   Over 600 leading telecommunications carriers, ISPs, content providers and enterprises rely on Telx’s world-class team to support their mission-critical global infrastructure needs and to create a global connectivity marketplace to dramatically expand their business growth opportunities.  Telx is a privately held company headquartered in New York City with facilities in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Miami, Phoenix, Charlotte, as well as Weehawken and Clifton, N.J. For more information about Telx, visit www.telx.com.

About CFN Services
CFN Services is a managed telecom infrastructure services company providing network services for the Enterprise, Public Sector and Carrier Markets. Specializing in network planning, deployment, and managed services, including local access transport, low latency networking, and mobile backhaul optimization, CFN Services leverages the company’s flagship FiberSource® network planning and optimization platform. CFN Services has provided network planning and deployment services to some of the leading wireless and wireline network operators including Verizon, AT&T, Level 3 and Sprint.  For more information, visit www.cfnservices.com.

21-May
Focus: 4G
Backhaul the Lifeline to 4G
Jennifer Pigg, VP, Enabling Technologies, Yankee Group

Yankee Group research shows that 50% of mobile network failures today can be traced back to problems in the backhaul.  That’s today – mostly voice, little data, almost no video on the mobile network.  Backhaul is not only a bottleneck, it’s a kluge bottleneck.  Service providers, unwilling to put their voice traffic at risk are leaving it on expensive TDM backhaul solutions and offloading data traffic to a parallel packet network.  In this session, we look at today’s dominant backhaul solutions and explain how the service providers will eat up CAPEX dollars and bleed profits if they do not move to more efficient solutions.  We also handicap the solutions available according to how stable we believe the solutions to be in terms of cost, performance, and management, particularly in terms of QoS and SLAs.

Sponsored by, CFN Services

Why WiMAX?

Thanks to iPhone, Android and the carriers; AT&T and TMobile, it is clear that 3G is a new standard for the digital phone consumers. They are buying up the phones and increasing their services from their wireless provider. But are they frustrated, the phone is so robust but can the backend support the front-end? Do the carriers have the bandwidth required to meet the needs of multimedia applications on the go – such a video conferencing from the wireless device. That is where 4G comes into play – the most exciting aspect of the 4G phones is the download speed – expected to be 100 Mbps – and its equally awesome 50 Mbps upload speed.

Some companies such as Sprint are skipping the 3G world and hyper speeding right into 4G WiMax. The good news for Sprint is consumers have proven they will pay for the speed and quality of a good network with a phone with applications that meet their daily needs. The frustration of the lack of speed for downloads and video will naturally move the consumer to the desire for the 4G networks and they will incrementally pay more for that service.

One thing is for sure, Carriers are investing a lot of resources into their WiMax 4G networks. According to the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), carriers in the United States are expected to spend $4.4 billion on WiMAX infrastructure equipment in 2008. Considering that WiMAX is only one potential 4G standard, industry watchers are expecting carriers to drop a lot of dough on 4G gear.

How do the wireless providers invest in new networks during a downturn in the economy and uncertain futures? They need to find ways to be more efficient then they have ever been. They need to work with partners that will ensure they are building in the most cost effective matter and not just sole sourcing with a single vendor. They need to ensure that their networks are standing up to the SLSs in place and are providing the throughput they are paying for. The carriers need to look for partners such as CFN Services

CFN Services is not a fiber company, we acquire fiber from the most efficient and cost effective way – when it makes sense we are able to lay new fiber and complete the installation from end to end. CFN Services is able to take the day-to-day management of the build out away from the carrier and allow the carrier to spend their time on the overall build – out plans and benefits. CFN Services is able to provide a timely analysis of an area and provide the ideal bandwidth mix that is required to provide a robust WiMax platform that will maximize cost efficiencies without derogating any network quality. By working with multiple fiber companies CFN can piece together the highest quality of bandwidth and manage all the contracts and SLA’s for the carrier; while providing cost savings to the Service Provider. CFN supports the design, AAV support and TCO for a carrier. CFN also can implement and manage Fiber based MAN solutions in markets that the Service Provider is looking to have a WiMax presence. CFN Services is your partner for your mobile backhaul and new market expansions.

One a recent contract with a Service Provider, CFN Services analyzed 10,000 WiMax deployment sites to identify 3,000 sites that were proximate to fiber for use as backhaul hubs. Those 3,000 went into an RF design phase where a subset of 500 actual hub sites came back which we then designed physical fiber network to provide high capacity low cost backhaul. Because of this work, CFN Services
was able to save the provider over $615,000 for a 13-market installation.

Chicago, IL March 30, 2009 –4G World – a Transmedia and Yankee Group Conference, announce CFN Services as the lead sponsor for the 4G World Mobile Backhaul Summit. 4G World provides a roadmap for all types of operators planning their 4G technology deployment and business strategies, with a combination of world class keynotes, seminars and training and track sessions.CFN Services – Backhaul Summit Lead Sponsor 4G World 2009

Metro Ethernet Forum White Paper for Mobile Service Proviers to implement MEF Specifications. MEF has identified specific requirements for mobile backhaul applications and has developed the Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreement. that advises service providers how to successfully and cost-effectively implement Carrier Ethernet for mobile backhaul.