"The RAD devices are being deployed in the backbone POPs and Internet access nodes of the NIB project. This is not surprising, since RAD's HTU and ASM-31 modems have become the de facto standard throughout India for 64 kbps and 2 Mbps connectivity," says N. Mahesh Kumar of MRO-TEK.
In phase I of the project alone, MRO-TEK furnished approximately 800 of RAD's HTU-E1 HDSL termination units for 2 Mbps Tier 1 POPs. The HTU units interconnect various large and medium-sized cities and carry traffic to the Internet gateways. An additional 1,400 HTU-E1 units and almost 300 ASM-31 short range modems are being deployed at Tier 2 and Tier 3 POPs in the state-level wide area network (WAN) backbone. The ASM-31 units provide 64 kbps connectivity to small towns, with the traffic carried over the backbone to the Internet gateway. The number of RAD units is expected to triple by the final phase of the NIB project.