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.

Insatiable Demand For Ethernet Bandwidth

Not so long ago, 10 Gbps was considered an enormous amount of bandwidth. So enormous that it only made sense for carrier backbone networks. Not anymore. Now enterprises are gobbling up that much WAN bandwidth and looking for more.

Who could possibly require 10 Gbps, short of an Internet service provider or MPLS network operator? Financial services, streaming entertainment media and medical campus connectivity are three applications on the cutting edge of high bandwidth demand, as reported in Carrier Ethernet News. How much more would they like? Some are licking their chops at 40 Gbps and even 100 Gbps.

How can a carrier keep up? Make no mistake about it, competitive service providers are in a scramble to make sure they have enough capacity to supply this burgeoning demand for higher and higher bandwidths. The once impressive T1 line is now considered a small business service. DS3 still hangs on for medium size business applications. OCx SONET, recently the darling of large enterprises, is starting to see its flame flicker on the way out. What’s happening is more than a simple escalation of bandwidth requirements. It’s a wholesale move from legacy telecom services to Ethernet connectivity.

Why Ethernet? There are a couple of strong forces at work nudging WAN bandwidth suppliers in the direction of offering Ethernet rather than some other type of connection. The first is a realization that analog telephony, the impetus behind the buildout of the massive PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), is now the smallest piece of the bandwidth pie. It’s the PSTN standards of T-Carrier & SONET that created the digital WAN services that have been pressed into service for data packet transport. The big piece of the pie is digital data and biggest piece of that pie is video.

No only are data packets the predominant information that needs to be moved from one place to another, but the networks generating those data packets are nearly all based on Ethernet. Why switch to something else just to get from one Ethernet network to another?

That’s what many carriers have concluded. Their new state of the art national and international networks are all designed to transport Ethernet packets. Those packets may represent voice from enterprise VoIP telephone systems, video conferencing or video streaming, medical images, or data file transfers. Interfacing and management of Ethernet bandwidth is more compatible with local area networks running Ethernet, but that’s not all. In most cases, Ethernet bandwidth is cheaper on a Mbps or Gbps basis than any other service.

How much cheaper? That depends on what facilities are available in your location more than anything. If you have competitive Ethernet services available, it’s not uncommon to get twice the bandwidth for the same money or keep the bandwidth you have now and get a big cost savings.

Can you ignore the Ethernet revolution? Only at the peril of your budget! It’s quick and easy to see what Ethernet bandwidth services are available for your business location. Why not take just a minute and put in a request for services and pricing now?

Merchant Account Credit Card Processing Made Easy

Credit card payment processing is essential to even the smallest businesses doing retail sales. You can make this easy or hard, so why not make it as painless as possible with support from one of the best credit card processing companies. Elite Processing Systems makes the complexity of electronic payments invisible, so you can focus on providing the goods and services that your customers want. They also go beyond the traditional credit card processing service to provide a complete suite of financial services for small businesses.

Somewhere along the line you may have heard of EPS or Elite Processing Systems. They’ve been in the business of providing merchants the capability of accepting credit, debit and EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) forms of payment for almost a decade. If you want to be able to accept credit card payments, your system needs to meet electronic security standards set by PCI or the Payment Card Industry. There’s really no need for you to become an expert in this field. EPS has already taken the necessary steps to ensure that all of their merchants are PCI Complaint. They’ll provide you with the right supplies, point of sale terminal equipment and support to ensure your success from the very start. You’ll have access to 24 hour U.S. based support, including technical support, at all times.

You know that not all of your customers have or want credit cards, even at this late date. Their comfort zone is writing checks to manage their money. That can present a serious risk to merchants who don’t have the ability to verify that the funds are really available. Elite Processing Systems works with Telecheck to let you accept checks and immediately verify funds electronically. Save yourself the anxiety of having to take those checks to the bank and wait for them to clear, only to find that there is a problem. Know immediately if that check is good or not.

Most credit card processing companies limit their services to point of sale payment solutions. Elite Processing Systems goes beyond that to support your business operations in other ways. For instance, they also offer a cost effect payroll processing system that keeps your payroll information confidential. Additional services include life insurance, health insurance, disability and simple IRA plans.

Elite also has a service available for cash advance funding. You know how tough it is to get a bank loan these days. Elite Processing Systems can set you up with Merchant Money, Ltd. cash advances based on your credit card processing future receivables. You get cash up front. Funds are taken back through your credit card sales in your merchant processing account. That helps you meet payroll, purchase inventory, pay taxes and fund your marketing campaigns without having to worry what mood the bankers are in this month.

Credit Card Processing by Elite Processing Systems a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Walnut Creek CA.