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UK carrier NTL gets in early with a national, MPLS-based, Ethernet virtual private LAN service
March 9, 2005
9 Min Read
U.K. cable operator NTL Group Ltd. (Nasdaq: NTLI) is throwing down the gauntlet on Ethernet, launching a national virtual private LAN (VPLS) service that it says puts it ahead of competing intercity services (see NTL Launches National Ethernet).
Its national Ethernet service runs over an MPLS network with an IP core and offers multipoint connections in a highly competitive market that is still largely dealing in point-to-point services over legacy SDH and ATM infrastructures (see UK: Ethernet's Crowded House and Sonet/SDH Dominates Ethernet Services).
While VPLS technology is relatively new to the scene, NTL has found itself in a position to build a next-generation IP network out of necessity -- the company has been pieced together from 16 different franchises and acquisitions, and it needed to find a way of bringing them all together.
"The SDH architecture had come from a lot of different companies and wasn't a good starting point. It's a less scaleable and more expensive way of doing it," says Peter Ryde, director of wholesale services for NTL’s business division. The operator instead decided to build its Broadnet network from scratch, deploying access equipment from Laurel Networks Inc. to support customers while shifting services onto the IP network.
David Ellis, director of marketing and strategy for the business division, couldn't resist getting in a jab at BT Group plc's (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) 21CN network project, saying "What's different about NTL here is that the architecture gives us a fundamental capability that BT is now trying to build in... We've got a 21st Century network today."
But NTL isn't alone in extending its Ethernet service out of the metro-area market. Its announcement follows similar launches from Colt Telecom Group plc (Nasdaq: COLT; London: CTM.L) in November and rival cable operator Telewest Communications Networks plc (Nasdaq: TWSTY) just last month (see Colt Offers Ethernet VPNs and Telewest Launches UK Ethernet Services).
With little to differentiate basic point-to-point metro Ethernet, providers are increasingly looking to offer more advanced services, such as wide-area networking and multipoint connections across a national footprint. NTL says it can extend to 200 points of presence (POPs) across the U.K., compared with BT’s 124 and Telewest’s 53. That means it can get much closer to the customer’s location and compete on price.
“All of the cost issues are driven by how close you can get to the customer,” says Ryde. "Even if we can't offer the service directly, it's carried a shorter distance over BT's network, which also means performance on the network is much better." Ellis adds that NTL is aiming to offer the service at a price 30 to 40 percent lower than BT's.
The table below, generated from a directory of Ethernet services being developed by Light Reading, shows that while a number of operators offer multipoint services in the U.K., NTL is something of an early bird in offering a nationwide MPLS-based service. Some of the service providers shown are international operators carrying traffic in and out of London; others are U.K.-based companies offering service in a smaller number of locations.
Table 1: Multipoint Ethernet Services in the UK
Service Provider | Service Name | UK Coverage | Principal technology used to provide service |
AboveNet Inc. | CWDM | London | CWDM |
BT Group plc | IP Clear Flex | All cities | Ethernet access to MPLS |
BT Group plc | IP Clear GigE | All cities | Ethernet access to MPLS |
BT Group plc | MegaStream Ethernet | All cities | ATM |
BT Group plc | WaveStream Services (optical) | All cities | DWDM |
COLT Telecom Group plc | LANLink Hub and Spoke | London | Birmingham | Manchester | SDH |
COLT Telecom Group plc | Switched Ethernet VPN | London | Birmingham | Manchester | RPR |
COLT Telecom Group plc | Switched Gigabit IP | London | Birmingham | Manchester | Ethernet |
Easynet | Ethernet Anywhere | Basingstoke | Brighton | Bristol | Cambridge | Carlisle | Coventry | Edinburgh | Glasgow | Gloucester | Hayes | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | London | Manchester | Middlesbrough | Milton Keynes | Newbury | Newcastle | Nottingham | Reading | Sheffield | Slough | Stoke | Taunton | Warwick | Woking | Wolverhampton | SDH |
Exponential-e | PowerConnect | Abington | Alnwick | Aylesbury | Banbury | Basingstoke | Birmingham | Borehamwood | Bracknell | Brighton | Bristol | Cambridge | Carlisle | Chilworth | Coventry | Crawley | Croydon | Derby | Edinburgh | Fareham | Greenlaw | Guilford | Harlow | Kendal | Leamington Spa | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Manchester | Middlesborough | Milton Keynes | Newbury | Newcastle | Northampton | Nottingham | Oxford | Preston | Reading | Sheffield | Slough | Southampton | Stoke on Trent | Swindon | Tunbridge Wells | Warrington | Westbury | Woking | Wolverhampton | York | MPLS |
Exponential-e | PowerLink | Abington | Alnwick | Aylesbury | Banbury | Basingstoke | Birmingham | Borehamwood | Bracknell | Brighton | Bristol | Cambridge | Carlisle | Chilworth | Coventry | Crawley | Croydon | Derby | Edinburgh | Fareham | Greenlaw | Guilford | Harlow | Kendal | Leamington Spa | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Manchester | Middlesborough | Milton Keynes | Newbury | Newcastle | Northampton | Nottingham | Oxford | Preston | Reading | Sheffield | Slough | Southampton | Stoke on Trent | Swindon | Tunbridge Wells | Warrington | Westbury | Woking | Wolverhampton | York | MPLS |
Exponential-e | PowerPeer | Abington | Alnwick | Aylesbury | Banbury | Basingstoke | Birmingham | Borehamwood | Bracknell | Brighton | Bristol | Cambridge | Carlisle | Chilworth | Coventry | Crawley | Croydon | Derby | Edinburgh | Fareham | Greenlaw | Guilford | Harlow | Kendal | Leamington Spa | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Manchester | Middlesborough | Milton Keynes | Newbury | Newcastle | Northampton | Nottingham | Oxford | Preston | Reading | Sheffield | Slough | Southampton | Stoke on Trent | Swindon | Tunbridge Wells | Warrington | Westbury | Woking | Wolverhampton | York | MPLS |
Exponential-e | PowerStar | Abington | Alnwick | Aylesbury | Banbury | Basingstoke | Birmingham | Borehamwood | Bracknell | Brighton | Bristol | Cambridge | Carlisle | Chilworth | Coventry | Crawley | Croydon | Derby | Edinburgh | Fareham | Greenlaw | Guilford | Harlow | Kendal | Leamington Spa | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Manchester | Middlesborough | Milton Keynes | Newbury | Newcastle | Northampton | Nottingham | Oxford | Preston | Reading | Sheffield | Slough | Southampton | Stoke on Trent | Swindon | Tunbridge Wells | Warrington | Westbury | Woking | Wolverhampton | York | MPLS |
Exponential-e | PowerVPN | Abington | Alnwick | Aylesbury | Banbury | Basingstoke | Birmingham | Borehamwood | Bracknell | Brighton | Bristol | Cambridge | Carlisle | Chilworth | Coventry | Crawley | Croydon | Derby | Edinburgh | Fareham | Greenlaw | Guilford | Harlow | Kendal | Leamington Spa | Leeds | Leicester | Liverpool | Manchester | Middlesborough | Milton Keynes | Newbury | Newcastle | Northampton | Nottingham | Oxford | Preston | Reading | Sheffield | Slough | Southampton | Stoke on Trent | Swindon | Tunbridge Wells | Warrington | Westbury | Woking | Wolverhampton | York | MPLS |
Fibernet | Ethersphere | All cities | RPR |
hSo | hSo Connect | All cities | SDH, ATM |
InTechnology plc | LANnet | Banbury | Birmingham | Brighton | Bristol | Carlisle | Croydon | Edinburgh | Glasgow | Harrogate | Leeds | Leicester | London | Manchester | Middlesborough | Milton Keynes | Newcastle | Northampton | Nottingham | Preston | Reading | Sheffield | Slough | York | MPLS, DWDM |
Interoute | Ethernet Private Line | London | MPLS |
Level 3 Communications Inc. | (3)Flex Ethernet | All cities | MPLS |
MCI UK | Private Line Ethernet | All cities | SDH |
NTL | National Ethernet | All cities | MPLS |
PacketExchange Ltd. | DireXion | London | MPLS |
PacketExchange Ltd. | ProXimity | London | MPLS |
Sprint | SprintLink Virtual LAN Service (VLS) | All cities | DWDM, Sonet |
Stealth Communications Inc. | TLS | London | WHRP |
Telecomplete Ltd. | Long Reach Ethernet | All cities | Ethernet |
Telewest Business | National Ethernet | All cities | MPLS |
TeliaSonera International Carrier | L2Connect | London | MPLS |
THUS plc | National Ethernet | All cities | MPLS, DWDM, SDH |
Tyco Telecommunictions (US) Inc. | Global Ethernet | London | Sonet |
Your Communications | LAN Speed (national) | All cities | SDH |
The move towards VPLS in the U.K. mirrors a similar trend in the U.S. market, where Tier 2 carriers are getting in ahead of their larger competitors with similar advanced Ethernet services (see Tier 2 Carriers Eat Up Ethernet).
— Nicole Willing, Reporter, Light Reading
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