Actelis’ EFM over copper broadband solutions enabling new carrier-class cloud services and streamlining network costs

The Kenton Group and Actelis, the Broadband Acceleration Company™, today announced that Wolverhampton City Council, the local authority for the City of Wolverhampton, has implemented a private WAN to deliver cost-effective, carrier-class Ethernet services using Actelis’ bonded-copper broadband solutions. The private WAN was built by The Kenton Group, Actelis’ largest reseller partner in the U.K., and supports cloud-based services for the City of Wolverhampton’s internal customer base consisting of groups offering health care, social and educational services.

The Kenton Group deployed Actelis’ ML2300 Aggregation Switches and ML600 Ethernet Access Devices (EADs). The Actelis solution offered an unparalleled combination of bandwidth, performance, distance and carrier-class reliability, and could be quickly deployed without the higher costs and longer delays commonly associated with fibre. The Wolverhampton City Council also needed a cost-effective broadband solution that would stand the test of time. The ability of Actelis’ Ethernet products to leverage the existing copper plant and provide a scalable and flexible broadband solution helped the Council prove the business case for the network build out in the short term while ensuring the solution could also meet its future requirements.

“We consider our network services to be the lifeblood of the Council, supporting our constituents’ daily needs, and being able to deliver these services cost effectively is paramount. One of the key differentiators of the private WAN was the flexibility of the network. Actelis’ broadband solutions and Ethernet technology within the network have enabled the Council to deliver more broadband services at more competitive prices,” said Andrew Hoare, head of ICT Services at Wolverhampton City Council.

The speed and flexibility of its private WAN have enabled the Council to launch many new cloud-based services reliably and cost effectively. Supporting these services was not justifiable in the past, but the unparalleled rate, reach and reliability of Actelis’ broadband solution now enables building private networks with requirements as demanding as those of the private WAN economically over existing copper plant.

“As Actelis’ leading U.K. partner, our relationship and product offering have evolved to meet diverse customer demands and market requirements,” commented John Larkin, managing director of The Kenton Group. “The work that we continue to do with the Wolverhampton City Council perfectly showcases our partnership with Actelis and our joint commitment to delivering innovative products supported by first-class customer service and expertise.”

The close working relationship between Actelis and The Kenton Group was a key element in delivering this solution, according to Les Burns, vice president of EMEA sales at Actelis. “Actelis’ successful ability to work with U.K. regulatory officials allowed us to team closely with The Kenton Group to provide a high quality, high-speed broadband solution to support all the required applications at a greatly reduced total cost of ownership. Actelis and The Kenton Group take great pride in being able to drive such high impact and positive results in public sector broadband solutions.”

Originally built out into three BT exchanges around the Council, the private WAN has been an evolving network with new sites and exchanges coming online each year to the position where seven exchanges are now included in the network. Commissioning a new site each month, Wolverhampton City Council continues to build out the network farther to increase its scale and scope.