February 15, 2006 Kiev, Ukraine -- Ukrainian telecommunications provider DataGroup is introducing high-capacity services based on Cisco Systems' ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport Platform (MSTP), deployed in a 6500-km fiber-optic network that will provide a DWDM backbone for delivering Ethernet-based services in all regional centers of Ukraine.
In addition, the platform will enable the provider to take advantage of the reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) capabilities of the Cisco platform, to speed service delivery to clients. The Ukrainian company says it aims to deliver a new portfolio of services ranging from high-speed Ethernet connectivity and provider interconnect services for the Ukrainian and Pan-European markets, to managed storage area network (SAN) extension services. Cisco says the infrastructure deployment will form a key part of the provider's overall IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture, supporting service delivery.
"In evaluating the Cisco portfolio, we recognized that the flexible reconfigurable nature of the ONS 15454 would help us to considerably lower the operational costs associated with running our optical infrastructure by allowing us to easily provision new services," comments Alexander Atamenko, project manager for DataGroup. "In a geographically diverse area such as Ukraine, the ability to reduce our total cost of ownership through the ability to modify our network configuration remotely, with limited manual intervention or service interruption, was one of the major factors in our choice."
DataGroup says it also aims to take advantage of the ability to aggregate multiple traffic types on a single wavelength as part of its service portfolio to provide "virtual fiber." As part of the service portfolio, the provider says it aims to move beyond data transport to offer financial customers data center interconnect services to support data replication and mirroring between remote locations. The provider has also already established high-speed links between Kiev and major financial markets, including Frankfurt, Germany.
Cisco says that with its ONS 15454 MSTP, service providers can deliver multiple Ethernet, Frame Relay, and SDH services, alongside Fibre Channel-based storage and mainframe connectivity services, on a single 10-Gbit/sec wavelength.
"As enterprise customers recognize the benefits of convergence in their own network infrastructures, they expect their providers to deliver converged transport solutions that can reduce the need to maintain multiple wide-area networks," concludes Johann Strauss, business development manager for optical networking at Cisco. "Working in tandem with Cisco's service creation teams, DataGroup has put together a revenue generating service portfolio, based on technology which will help minimize its own operational costs for running the network."