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In the late ‘90s, as demand for broadband began to explode, many service providers found themselves turning to that enterprise juggernaut, Ethernet, to help them inexpensively deliver more bandwidth-rich, Layer 2 services. Service providers also sought Ethernet as a cost-effective means of aggregating their ATM traffic. There was just one catch: Ethernet technology wasn’t sophisticated enough to meet the demands of a carrier environment.

While many still equate “metro Ethernet” with cheap broadband and E-LAN/E-Line services, today’s carrier Ethernet bears little resemblance to that of a few years ago and is capable of reliably and cost-effectively supporting even the largest, most sophisticated business and residential service deployments.

Ethernet’s journey from “the fat yellow cord” to a full-fledged carrier technology began five years ago with the introduction of MPLS in the control plane. MPLS provided Ethernet with the critical levels of scalability, reliability and QoS that prior, enterprise-oriented approaches lacked. The simultaneous arrival of purpose-built carrier platforms further reinforced Ethernet’s newfound reliability with redundant, NEBS-compliant hardware.

This progression continued with the development of Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS) in 2002. Using MPLS, VPLS provides a viable replacement for leased-line VPNs with point-to-multipoint connectivity. Like IP VPNS, VPLS fully supports the service providers’ SLAs, but unlike IP VPNs, doesn’t require the enterprise customer to surrender control of its routing tables. VPLS also makes network troubleshooting easier, helping service providers minimize service disruptions and contain operational costs.

Now, building on VPLS technology, Hierarchical VPLS (HVPLS) makes it possible to scale Ethernet to support millions of subscribers with guaranteed levels of service. This latest break-through gives Ethernet the teeth to take on even the largest residential deployments. And none too soon.

With telcos, MSOs and even municipalities fighting for revenues and market share, triple-play services, once a hypothetical offering, are finally taking hold. Services like IPTV, in particular, are dramatically altering the competitive landscape.

But service providers of all kinds have a delicate balance to maintain to be successful. To lure customers away from their current service providers, competing providers will have to be able to offer equivalent or better quality services and content at a lower price. Network reliability will play a key role. This is particularly true of video services where a couple seconds of pixelization can cause the customer to miss the winning play of the Superbowl or the solving of the mystery. If the customer can’t get the quality he expects from one provider, he’ll switch to another. At the same time, to keep the lower prices from cutting into their margins, they will also have to make their networks as efficient as possible.

With such features as fast-reroute and dual-homing, today’s VPLS-based Ethernet can detour traffic within thousandths of a second of a router failure--so fast neither the human eye nor ear can detect any service irregularity. Hence, customers don’t experience pixilated video or voice dropouts. VPLS also provides for the dynamic allocation of the network’s bandwidth and partitions users so that one household member’s music download doesn’t, for example, adversely affect another’s IPTV viewing.

Addressing the other side of the equation, network efficiency, the same dynamic use of bandwidth that prevents one service from eclipsing another also ensures that no bandwidth goes wasted. In the case of video services, HVPLS makes more efficient use of the networks’ bandwidth by pushing multicasting out to the very edge of the carrier’s network, leaving the rest of the network available for other uses.

Today’s Ethernet solutions also allow service providers to converge both their residential triple-play and enterprise VPN offerings onto a single infrastructure. This, combined with Ethernet’s inherent simplicity, translates into lower operational costs. Better yet, the capital required to deploy a carrier Ethernet network is significantly less than traditional Multi-service Edge Routers or IP routers.

Already, such diverse networks as Telefonica de Espana Imagenio and Utah’s UTOPIA are using MPLS-based Ethernet to deliver such services as IPTV, VoIP, and Internet access.

Telefonica’s network, for example, is providing IP-based video and data services to customers in major cities across Spain using MPLS-based Ethernet routers to aggregate traffic from its large installed base of DSLAMs. By doing so, Telefonica is able to generate additional service revenues while maximizing its existing investment in DSL and reducing operational expenses.

The UTOPIA network, a wholesale FTTX network connecting 14 Utah communities, is utilizing a VPLS-based active Ethernet architecture to deliver 100 Mb/s of bandwidth per subscriber. Both the core and edge of the network are comprised of VPLS-based Ethernet routers. Using VPLS, UTOPIA can not only deliver any type of service, but can partition the network in such a way that individual subscribers can simultaneously receive a mix of services from multiple service providers. The use of VPLS also provides the scalability needed to cost-effectively address future network growth.

Having progressed far beyond business services, Ethernet is changing the game, permitting carriers to offer more sophisticated, revenue-generating services to both businesses and consumers. In an era marked by increasing competition and the commoditization of basic broadband connectivity, Ethernet is proving to be a critical factor for service providers’ success.

David Ginsburg is vice president of Marketing & Product Management for Riverstone Networks.

Visit Riverstone Networks online.