Carrier Ethernet

With the growing demand for content rich multimedia experiences among the consumer and business sectors, there is a growing need for Carrier Ethernet to support this trend. RAD Data Communications (News - Alert) is a company focused on making its mark in this space.

A recent video captured an interview between RAAG and RAD Director of Carrier Ethernet Business Development Yacov Cazes to learn how the company’s new Carrier Ethernet solutions have responded to recent market developments. Cazes first outlined four significant market trends.

1. Carrier Ethernet is Experiencing Multi-faceted Expansion

Cazes explained that Carrier Ethernet services have broken the bonds of the Metro network and today span the nation as well as the globe. The services have also encompassed multiple provider networks. As a consequence, greater demarcation is now required between wholesale and service provider networks in order to protect quality of service and maintain performance visibility.

2. High Adoption Rates Have Resulted in Strong Competition

Increased adoption of Carrier Ethernet services demands operators to find new ways to stand out from the crowd, usually by customizing their offerings. Increased competition in the market has likewise produced price squeezes throughout the pipeline.

3. The Move is Toward Convergence (News - Alert)

The market push is focused on single-vendor solutions which perform multiple functions. A single network infrastructure must support business, cloud connectivity, and wholesale services.

4. New Market Openings for Carrier Ethernet

Markets which previously were uninterested in EVPL services are now open to Carrier Ethernet.

RAAG then discussed with Cazes the main factors he sees as impacting Carrier Ethernet service providers. According to Cazes, the answer is dependent upon the maturity level that Carrier Ethernet has reached within a given market.

More fully developed economies, such as North America, Japan, and Western Europe, which have deployed carrier Ethernet for longer periods have different demands than customers in less robust economies, like Russia and Eastern Europe, where Carrier Ethernet is just taking hold. 

Markets where Carrier Ethernet is well known are looking for enhanced services like improved traffic management and performance monitoring. Markets relatively new to Carrier Ethernet are most interested in controlling initial investments.

This creates diverse requirements and is part of why RAD has developed a new generation of Carrier Ethernet solutions. These solutions have been specially constructed to deliver a uniformity of Carrier Ethernet “look and feel” even while they support varying deployments, markets, requirements and transport technologies. Just a few ways the solutions meet the new market demands:

·         A complete menu of NTUs to handle access speeds which range from 1Mbps-10Gbps

·         An Ethernet aggregate platform that allows carriers to hold down equipment expenses

·         Smart CPEs to provide advanced end to end lifecycle management

·         Wholesale functionality designed to provide control, visibility and CoS consistency

·         Licensed port activation and cost efficient designs to lower the Total Cost of Ownership

When asked what it is that makes RAD solutions stand apart, Cazes replied, “by far, our ability to provide a full gamut of devices from a single source, using the same management and provisioning system, and enabling consistent performance for all access scenarios is one of our key strengths. No other access vendor has been able to compete in this regard.”