Ethernet Services Take Europe By Storm

Carrier Ethernet services have reached mass adoption in Europe and are challenging multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) virtual private networks (VPNs) as the first choice for enterprise WANs — 42% of European enterprises have fully deployed site-to-site Ethernet, up from 25% a year ago. Lower costs, better performance, and increased flexibility have driven this growth. The major carriers have all announced massive plans to upgrade and extend their Ethernet services, and they are interconnecting their services to facilitate global delivery. In 2007, most services on offer were point-to-point Ethernet services delivered over SDH or directly over fiber. Today, Ethernet services delivered over carrier core MPLS networks using the virtual private LAN service (VPLS) standard are mainstream in Europe, following launches by AT&T and Cable & Wireless (C&W). IT ops also needs to reorient itself for converged access to multiple services via a single Ethernet circuit, which has become European enterprises' favorite choice for WAN access.