Carrier Ethernet Survival Guide

Sponsored by:

Service providers want to unlock the treasure of new services revenue related to Carrier Ethernet, but they have many paths from which to choose. This eBook, sponsored by Telco Systems, offers carriers a guide on how Carrier Ethernet fits into the broad world of communications services, what issues to consider in the selection of Carrier Ethernet-related technology, recent management advancements around Carrier Ethernet, the benefits of VPLS, the business case around Carrier Ethernet, and a real-world example of Carrier Ethernet service in action.

Table of Contents

How Carrier Ethernet Unifies the Network
The appeal of Carrier Ethernet often is linked to the economies of scale already present with Ethernet gear, and user familiarity with Ethernet. But although these traditional Ethernet benefits still apply, Carrier Ethernet brings much more to the table. A large part of Carrier Ethernet's appeal also relates to its role as a unifying technology.

OAM&P Advances Bring New Benefits to Carrier Ethernet
Advances around operations, administration, maintenance and provisioning are improving service providers’ visibility into and control of the Ethernet services they offer, and their ability to connect with other carrier networks.

Ethernet Helps Time Warner Telecom Pull It All Together
Time Warner Telecom, a pioneer in Ethernet, said the desire to be able to deliver simpler and more complete solutions is what led the company to embrace the technology.

VPLS – The Best Tool for Ethernet Transport?
In the past year or so, BT and Nortel Networks Ltd. have whipped up a lot of interest around Provider Backbone Transport (PBT), an emerging standard based on Provider Backbone Bridging (PBB). They’re positioning this as a way to make Carrier Ethernet more deterministic and to bring it into transport networks without what some perceive as the high cost and complexity of MPLS. But PBT has not been fully standardized and would require new investment by service providers. A better solution, according to companies such as Telco Systems, is VPLS.]

Business Case Around Carrier Ethernet Is Clear
Back when Ethernet services appeared on the scene, the question was: Will Ethernet services cannibalize carriers’ legacy data services? However, this concern seems to have largely disappeared from industry discourse as it has become clear that Ethernet services not only serve the best interests of business customers by offering more flexible, affordable and complete solutions for multiple sites and applications, but also of the carriers in terms of internal cost savings and other efficiencies as well as improved customer responsiveness.

Investing in the Access Infrastructure
In order to realize the advantages of Carrier Ethernet, especially for business customers, Telco Systems says it is key that service intelligence is extended to the customer edge of the network. And, in order to provide customers with the experience they desire, addressing secure, application-aware attributes, service quality, traffic management and fine-grained OAM has become a requirement.