Annex

Finding the perfect data connection to meet the demands of your business

ADVISE ME advise me
Technologies

Symmetric - GEA Overview

Generic Ethernet Access aka Ethernet over FTTC.

This sits firmly between regular FTTC and fibre leased lines. It replaces the standard contended FTTC backhaul with an uncontended business grade network offering an SLA similar to leased lines.

There are different variants on offer at different price points.

Guide Figures
Down Speed
20Mb
Up Speed
20Mb
Typical Cost
£2k p.a.
GEA - Great for SME's
Great value for SME's

GEA (Generic Ethernet Access) aka EoFTTC or Ethernet over FTTC offers true business grade FTTC.

Standard FTTC is a contended service where your business is sharing bandwidth not just with other businesses but with the public as well.  On a congested exchange you might see a drop off in performance when the kids get home from school.

Standard FTTC comes with no service level guarantees and is treated pretty much like ADSL in terms of time to fix.

GEA overcomes these limitations and offers an uncontended service with SLA.  Although the underlying technology is 80/20Mb FTTC most providers turn it into a symmetrical 20/20Mb service.  With the exception of upgradeability this has the same characteristics as a 20Mb fibre leased line at less than half the cost.  What's more, it can be installed in less than 1 month compared with 2-4 months for a leased line.