10Mb/s is the new T1, Vertical Systems Research shows

CEN Feature (Mar 22 2011)

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   Fiber is finding its way into more and more office buildings. According to new data from Vertical Systems Group, 72.3 percent of business locations currently lack fiber—a significant improvement from five years ago, when the number was 88.5 percent. Nevertheless, the data reveals that a large majority of businesses continue to rely on copper connectivity.

   Not surprisingly, Vertical Systems expects to see continued strong demand for what the research firm calls “intermediate speed” connectivity—rates ranging from fractional T1 to T3 speeds, as well as Ethernet speeds up to 100 Mb/s. In other words, pretty much anything faster than a voice-grade line that can be delivered over copper.

   But the mix of service types within the category is shifting, Vertical Systems says. Since 2009, the total number of Ethernet connections within the intermediate speed category has been pulling ahead of traditional frame relay, ATM and private line connections—and by 2014 will exceed the traditional technologies by a factor of about 2.5.

   “10Mb/s is the new T1,” said Erin Dunne, director of research for Vertical Systems, on a recent Carrier Ethernet News webinar titled, “Are you ready for edge router replacement?”

   Surprisingly, Ethernet is gaining ground not only against legacy connectivity options such as ATM, frame relay and private lines, but also against dedicated IP virtual private networks. In fact, migration from dedicated IP-VPN services is the largest source of new business Ethernet connections, representing close to a third of new business Ethernet connections—about the same amount represented by the three legacy technologies combined.

   Clearly Ethernet is gaining wide acceptance and increasingly will be chosen by a wide range of business users—and as a result, some carriers are beginning to design their networks in a more Ethernet-centric manner. These carriers are questioning, for example, why they need an edge router in their central office or PoP for aggregating IP services over traditional DS1 and DS3 WAN connection, particularly when a multi-service Carrier Ethernet platform can reduce per-port costs, while also minimizing power and space requirements and supporting additional service capabilities?

   Although an edge router is a Layer 3 device, “usually it’s just aggregating traffic for backhaul,” noted Brian Van Voorhis, senior product line manager for Overture Networks, during the webinar.

   “If an end customer is using an IP-VPN, it’s common to believe you have to use an edge router,” said Van Voorhis. But that’s a misconception, he says. Some Carrier Ethernet platforms have network control protocols to handle IP traffic, he said.

   Van Voorhis pointed to some other advantages of using a Carrier Ethernet platform instead of a router. For one, the Carrier Ethernet platform is more likely to support multi-domain operations administration and management standards that can generate loopbacks and access performance monitoring capabilities such as frame delay. Capabilities such as these, Van Voorhis said, can generate a “huge improvement in service assurance.”

   In addition, Van Voorhis said, some routers don’t support as many service queues as today’s Carrier Ethernet platforms can, limiting the number of service levels a carrier can offer. Routers also may be unable to support Ethernet features such as guaranteed burst size and committed information rates.

   Ultimately, Van Voorhis said, using a Carrier Ethernet platform in place of an edge router can boost revenue without increasing or while actually saving costs. Power and rack space, as well as per-circuit capex, can all be reduced by about 70 percent by choosing the multi-service Carrier Ethernet platform, he added.

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