Virtualized Access Could Benefit Wholesale Carrier Ethernet Access Market

CEN Feature (Jun 19 2012) Access , MEF , Global

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   Virtualization has been a telecom industry buzzword for some time – but it’s gotten a lot more attention recently as a result of trends in cloud computing and software-defined networks. It’s also beginning to find its way into the access network, where it could help simplify the process of turning up Carrier Ethernet service when more than one service provider is involved in providing the underlying end-to-end link.

   As Overture CTO Prayson Pate explained in a recent interview, virtualization in any form has several key principles – including using layering and abstraction to simplify control of equipment underlying applications and services. In the access realm, he said, it involves hiding detail about the access network infrastructure.
   
   “You don’t have to worry about different types of equipment – copper, T-1, Sonet, point-to-point Ethernet or GPON,” he said. “Everything can be hidden by applying abstractions so the resource looks generic. You treat [network] assets as a resource for defining services.”

   As with virtualized computing or software-defined networks, the idea is to take the controlling intelligence out of the network element and move it to a centralized controller, thereby reducing the cost of making changes. 

   The first manifestation of virtualization in the access network is likely to be in the virtual network interface device (vNID), an emerging Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) standards effort that seeks to define a NID that could be shared by multiple service providers. According to Pate, some pre-standard implementations of the vNID concept, originally known as a hybrid NID, already are on the market.

   The plan is for a vNID to be installed by the provider that owns the physical access link to an end user instead of the conventional NID that would be installed there today. If the network operator then leases the access link to another service provider, that service provider would not have to install its own NID but instead would be able to tap in to the vNID to, for example, confirm that the wholesale operator is meeting its service level agreement (SLA), and to verify the end-to-end SLA offered to the end customer.

   One service provider that anticipates using vNIDs when the MEF standard is finalized is Integra Telecom, a competitive provider with a deep footprint in the Western United States that also leases copper and fiber links from other service providers when it needs to serve locations to which it does not have its own network connection – a common occurrence for locations outside Integra’s footprint.

   Integra expects to deploy vNIDs in its own footprint and is hoping that some of the companies from which it buys connectivity also will deploy vNIDs, said Mike Kozlowski, director of product management, transport and data services for Integra.

   “If I’m a buyer, there’s a cost savings to be had by using a virtual NID,” said Kozlowski. “As a seller, it’s a value-add to my service. I can troubleshoot and the customer can tunnel in and extract what they need. Integra believes it’s part of the overall solution in guaranteeing we will meet SLAs.”

   Using vNIDs also can simplify the deployment process by offering a consistent interface regardless of whether service is being deployed over a provider’s own access link or a link from a wholesale operator, noted Pate.

   Kozlowski envisions that vNIDs will be “table stakes” for providers of Carrier Ethernet services moving forward and he believes they are part of a broader trend toward virtualization in the access network.

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