26 July 2002 -- By end-August UK Ethernet Service Provider Neos will implement Nortel Networks' OPTera Long Haul 1600 Optical Line System to upgrade its Neosnet UK optical backbone network - the UK's only Layer 2 MPLS Ethernet network - for Gigabit Ethernet traffic over DWDM channels, providing up to eight Gigabit Ethernet services per wavelength. It is expected to be the world's first operational deployment of Nortel's OPTera Long Haul 1600 for high-density Ethernet transport.
Neosnet provides national and metro Gigabit Ethernet network services to 100 carrier customers and 170 corporations and public sector organisations, via access to over 100 POPs nationwide as well as Neosnet Metro, which provides a broadband interconnection of co-location sites to 30 POPs and access to a further 17,000 network nodes in Greater London.
"This represents a natural evolution of Ethernet services in the wide area national network space, which will lead to a strong take-up due to their plug-and-play nature," said Camille Mendler, director of European fixed telecoms services at the Yankee Group. "Such services are attractive to both large and small businesses looking not only for better price performance but also flexibility in their communications infrastructures."
The upgraded Neosnet will position customers to leverageEthernet in enterprise networks, minimising the number of routers that must be equipped with expensive WAN ports. Customers will be able to take advantage of Neos' Liquid Bandwidth Ethernet, which provides soft-provisioned Ethernet bandwidth upgrades in increments from 1Mbit/s to 1Gbit/s. Neos plans to offer on-line web-based bandwidth orders with 48 hour delivery, rather than the current 60 days.
CEO John Wheeler says that, in upgrading Neosnet, Neos has extended the service price/performance metrics without incurring the capital expense of legacy technologies such as SMDS, frame relay and ATM.
Added Peter Newcombe, president, Optical Networks for Nortel in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, "Having previously constructed a 1.6Tbit/s capable optical backbone for Neos in the UK, we are now able to supplement that with our data expertise to provide Optical Ethernet services."