Ethernet Connects Businesses Throughout Latin America

Over the last few years, Carrier Ethernet services have become the choice of many, many businesses for Dedicated Internet Access (DIA), private line point to point connections, last mile access to MPLS networks and meshed any-to-any connections to link multiple business sites in the United States. Now that capability is rolling out worldwide. As an example, Level 3, a major international carrier, has won an award from the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) for their service to the Caribbean and Latin America.

International voice and data services have been available for decades. We’re well aware of the extensive undersea fiber optic cables that link continents. What’s different now is a change of protocol and the availability of new services for companies and organizations worldwide.

The reason that Ethernet is displacing earlier protocols is that IP packets are now the dominant packaging for electronic communication. Nearly all Local Area Networks (LANs) are Ethernet based. The Internet, the largest and most connected set of networks, is based on routing IP or Internet Protocol packets. So why wouldn’t you simply extend the networks you have now using an Ethernet protocol?

The only thing stopping a faster switch over to IP based core networks is legacy. The massive investment in infrastructure over the last century isn’t going to go away all at once. That infrastructure was largely built by the telephone companies for their own use and is based on Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) telco standards such as T1, DS3 and SONET.

Fortunately, it isn’t necessary to rip out all the existing telecom equipment that works perfectly well just to have Ethernet services available. Carrier Ethernet can run over IP core networks or TDM networks. Ethernet over T1 (EoDS1) works well as a last mile connection to join MPLS networks or as a point to point private line. The existing T1 infrastructure is so extensive that it can be brought into nearly any business, even in rural areas. Ethernet over DS3 (EoDS3) up the bandwidth to 45 Mbps. Ethernet over SONET picks up at 155 Mbps and goes to at least 10 Gbps, with some connections available at 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps.

One factor that has hastened the adoption of Carrier Ethernet is the existence of an industry standards group called the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF). This group serves to establish and maintain the standards that all manufacturers and Ethernet service providers will use to enter the Ethernet marketplace. One standard of note is the E-NNI or Ethernet Network to Network Interface. This provides a predictable and carrier-agnostic way for two networks to exchange traffic. As they do this, each carrier expands the reach of its own services. It is no longer necessary to lay fiber around the world to connect to international destinations. Carriers can create peering arrangements through E-NNIs to gain access to the markets that they don’t directly serve.

Level 3’s award winning project involved one of the world’s largest banking and financial services companies. The Ethernet business solution supported this customer’s connectivity throughout Brazil. More and more large and medium size corporations are looking at Ethernet services to interconnect their various locations worldwide. Smaller companies are finding that the cost advantages and easy connectivity of Ethernet makes it well worthwhile to switch services at contract renewal time for for new installations.

Does your large, medium or small organization need better connectivity at lower prices than what you’ve traditionally paid for legacy telecom services? If so, check pricing and features of Carrier Ethernet services now.



Note: Map of Latin America image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Many Flavors of Ethernet Transport

The availability of Ethernet for MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) and WAN (Wide Area Network) transport is popping up all over. Why? Simply because Ethernet is in demand by IT and telecommunications managers looking to get the most Megabits per second at the lowest price for their companies. Ethernet also offers easier management. Multiple locations can be tied together as a large single network.

The very best situation is a direct fiber optic connection from a competitive carrier's point of presence (POP) to your premises. A large national carrier, such as XO communications, can provide first mile connectivity, transport throughout your metro area, and long haul service across the country. Ethernet over Fiber, or EoF, on a carrier designed for IP transport is highly efficient and results in cost savings far beyond what you may be expecting.

But what if you aren't lucky enough to be in a major office complex located in a metropolitan downtown area, just blocks from carrier facilities and already provisioned or "lit" for fiber optic service? Ah, that's were the creative solutions come in.

Ethernet has been widely implemented as a baseband technology for LAN networks. This means that rather than multiplexing the Ethernet signal on a carrier of any sort, it occupies the entire bandwidth of the cabling that carries it. This is still reflected in terms like 10 Base T or 100 Base T. the word "base" refers to baseband. The Ethernet signal is actually packets of information, each carrying up to 1500 bytes of user data.

Once you want to transport your LAN traffic over longer distances than local area network connections, it needs to be carried by a signal or "carrier" that can travel long distances. Actually, just about any digital communications system can carry the individual Ethernet packets as long as it has enough speed or bandwidth to be worthwhile. That includes the T-Carrier system developed by the phone companies to transport digitized phone calls, SONET (Synchronous Optical NETwork) fiber optic carriers, microwave relay and WiFi radios, and point to point optical lasers.

The T-Carriers are especially useful because they've been deployed all over the country and are a mature technology of the phone companies. T1 is the most familiar of the T-Carriers. It is the defacto standard for PBX telephone, dedicated Internet and point to point data transfers for small and medium sized companies. T1 lines are provisioned on twisted pair copper wire. In other words, phone lines. So, T1 lines go everywhere. Using protocol conversion to get packets to and from T1 frames, T1 lines can carry Ethernet. This is often referred to as Ethernet over T1( EoT1) or Ethernet over DS1 (EoDS1). DS1 is the definition of the Data Signal or framing specification for T1 lines.

A related service is Ethernet over DS3, EoDS3. DS3 is the Data Signal level for T3 lines that is also used for SONET fiber optic service. DS1 offers 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth, just a fraction of standard 10 Mbps Ethernet. DS3, however, offers 45 Mbps of bandwidth, almost half of a 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet signal.

When Ethernet is provisioned on T1 twisted pair or T3 coaxial cable, it may be referred to as EoC or Ethernet over Copper. There are other short distance modulation schemes that offer higher bandwidths using in-place copper wiring for that last mile or few hundred feet of connectivity. The big advantage of copper is that it is likely already in place for phone service. Fiber optic carriers offer higher bandwidths to easily support 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps and 1,000 Mbps Ethernet transport, but the cost of construction may be prohibitive unless you are near a carrier POP or are willing to commit to large bandwidth usage.

Which business bandwidth services make the most sense for your organization? Find out which nearby locations are already provisioned for Ethernet service and let our expert consultants help you find the most cost effective services for your needs.