March 21, 2006 Las Vegas, NV -- BellSouth announced a further integration of its optical and Ethernet service offerings. The carrier says the "enhancement" will extend its business continuity capabilities "deeper into [its] enterprise customers' operations."
"BellSouth is providing a carrier-class solution that enables Layer 1 and Layer 2 Ethernet traffic to be protected by the self healing qualities of SONET infrastructure," explains Lee Priest, vice president of business marketing at BellSouth. "As mission-critical IP applications become more prevalent in the enterprise, BellSouth is delivering options to help ensure business continuity for its customers."
According to a press release, in 2003, BellSouth began "evolving" its SONET infrastructure through use of a multi-service provisioning platform (MSPP) employing Lucent Technologies' metro optical technology (including the company's Metropolis access multiplexers). The carrier says the "unique capabilities" of its announced third and latest phase of infrastructure and services enhancements include two options:
* "Shared Ethernet LAN over MSPP" capabilities, allowing customers to share data between multiple locations along a self-healing SONET ring without committing a major portion of the ring to accommodate such sharing, as would be required by a point-to-point arrangement. The carrier says that this option allows organizations to share information among several locations without the use of numerous dedicated circuits.
* A "metro Ethernet over MSPP option," allowing organizations using both MSPP SONET and metro Ethernet networks to integrate such traffic onto the same fiber ring for purposes of business continuity in the event of "disaster." The carrier says its MSPP SONET offering supports "Basic, Premium, and Virtual Metro Ethernet" services.
The carrier says it will introduce a fourth phase of infrastructure enhancements at the end of this month to further address the Ethernet application requirements of businesses.