Mälarenergi goes Gigabit-to-the-Home with PacketFront

STOCKHOLM - Mälarenergi, the operator of the leading Swedish open-access network, with more than 31,700 connected homes, placed an order for about 1,200 gigabit Ethernet access switches from PacketFront. The ASR6000 units will be deployed over the next 18 months and will upgrade 28,000 ports of the access network in the City of Västerås to support gigabit-speed services.

“We are proud of our ability to maintain and operate a large, distributed, open-access network with a minimum of resources. PacketFront’s ASR6000 is a key factor to continue this lean operation as we move to gigabit access,” says Per Norrthon, CEO of Mälarenergi. “The citizens of Västerås will now enjoy an even wider selection of services, and we have a very easy migration process to update the network with the new routers.”

PacketFront says the ASR6000 switch was designed in response to customers' requests for simple migration to IPv6 and gigabit services. The switch supports multirate operation for both copper and fiber ports, which means end-user equipment does not have to be replaced until faster services are purchased. The small form factor of the ASR6000 also allows it to fit into existing installation sites, enabling a “plug’n’play” migration process for Mälarenergi to minimize network downtime when old hardware is replaced.