NASHVILLE--For a North Carolina company, Hatteras Networks is getting quite a reputation in the Pacific Northwest. The Ethernet-over-copper gear maker today announced its fifth CLEC customer in that region in Quantum Communications, an Oregon-based local CLEC.

Like other Hatteras customers, Quantum is using its Mid-Band Ethernet technology to extend the reach of its Ethernet services to businesses not served by fiber infrastructure.

“This has been a hot-bed of activity for us,” said Gary Bolton, vice president of sales and marketing for Hatteras. “These carriers see huge demand opportunity.”

The Mid-Band Ethernet technology enables service providers to bond up to eight copper pairs into a business and deliver up to a 45 Megabit per second service. Mid-Band Ethernet offers a more cost-effective and efficient alternative to selling multiple T-1 lines, Bolton said.

“A UNE-L [unbundled loop] costs somewhere from $9 to $15 a line approximately and a T-1 lines to 20 to 30 times that,” Bolton said. “On average, there are about eight copper pairs to every business, so there is plenty of copper available.”

According to Vertical Systems Group, only 15% of U.S. businesses are served by fiber.

While many CLECs want to move to fiber eventually, using copper lines to deploy Ethernet enables them to do so on a “success basis,” as opposed to acquiring expensive infrastructure and then trying to sell it, Bolton said.

Among the other Northwestern CLECs using Hatteras are LS Networks, 180 Networks, SilverStar Telecom and national CLEC XO Communications. There are several more who have not yet announced their deployments, Bolton said.