Communications provider Comcast (News - Alert) has revealed a major expansion of its Comcast Business Class Solutions Provider Program with Metro Ethernet services. The company announced the addition of new partners and better ways for mid-sized businesses to access fast, reliable and cost-effective Ethernet services.

In addition, the communications provider has added new solution provider partners with their own direct sales teams, in order to bring Metro Ethernet solutions to mid-sized businesses looking to increase productivity and lower costs through a high-performance network.

The new partners include Crystal Technologies, Total Communications, Interactive Telecom Solutions, Telegration (News - Alert), Simplify, GCG, Lightstream, Bridgepointe and CTG3.

“We have expanded the technical and sales resources dedicated to supporting our provider partners, and we look forward to working directly with them to provide Metro Ethernet solutions to customers," said Craig Schlagbaum, vice president of indirect channel sales at Comcast Business Services, in a statement.

Ethernet services will continue to grow as more mid-sized businesses utilize bandwidth-intensive applications such as cloud computing, business continuity and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS (News - Alert)). These services will help organizations streamline the cost and performance of their wide area networks (WAN).

Metro Ethernet services are known to yield better performance at less cost when compared to legacy technologies such as T1 lines, Frame Relay and ATM, according to Comcast officials.

Comcast Metro Ethernet can quickly scale in increments from 1 Megabit-per-second (Mbps) up to 10 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) with the flexibility of three different classes of service, according to company officials.

Comcast first announced its Metro Ethernet offering in May 2011. The service is now available in 20 of the top 25 U.S. markets. The communications provider delivers these services using its fiber optic network, which is company-owned and operated and is completely separate from traditional phone networks.

Comcast Metro Ethernet solutions are certified by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF (News - Alert)) to meet MEF 9, 14 and 18 requirements, which are industry standards for reliability and performance, the company said.

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