Broadwing Communications, a provider of optical network communications services, and OnFiber Communications, an optical metro network provider, yesterday announced at Supercomm 2005 that they have joined forces to deliver a suite of facilities-based, Ethernet private network services for the most demanding Fortune 500 enterprises.
The news follows a June 1 announcement that Broadwing made regarding the commercial availability of it Converged Network. That network, according to the company, is designed to support both Layer 2 Virtual Private LAN (VPLS) and Layer 3 Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) VPNs. Broadwing said that the joint initiative with OnFiber pairs its offering with OnFiber's high capacity, Ethernet local access network to deliver a scalable end-to-end solution.
"Enterprise network managers are eager for end-to-end, site-to-site Ethernet solutions beyond the metro. The combination of OnFiber's metro footprint with Broadwing's Converged Network, will enable the companies to aggressively attack this expanding new market for Ethernet services," said Bryan Van Dussen, director telecommunications research at the Yankee Group, a Boston-based research firm.
After combined testing and evaluation, OnFiber and Broadwing say they have interconnected their networks in all of OnFiber's major U.S. markets. The VPN services can be purchased by either carrier. Benefits to enterprise customers include the following, according to the companies:
- Facilities-based, point-to-point or multipoint WAN connectivity
- Tested and certified solutions with best-of-class, end-to-end Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
- Rapid, precise and guaranteed provisioning intervals
- Scalable connectivity enabling customers to easily grow from 10-Megabit to Gigabit Ethernet and beyond
- Pre- and post-sale support
- Low total cost of ownership
Broadwing's Converged Services solution is a nationwide all-optical network upon which the Converged Network is deployed. Using Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) and ultra-long haul, all-optical transport, Broadwing's unique Converged Network infrastructure provides per-traffic flow quality of service (QoS) to any voice, data or video application over any Ethernet, IP, ATM, Frame Relay or TDM access protocol feeding a single MPLS backbone.
OnFiber's background in constructing and operating last mile optical network infrastructure enables the delivery of this service directly to enterprises' offices or POPs. OnFiber's networks are designed to support high-capacity applications, such as wide area Ethernet for enterprise operations.
"Customers want a very simple architecture where they can plug into an Ethernet box on their premises and run voice, video and data over that interface without sacrificing quality," said Scott Widham, president of sales and marketing for Broadwing. "Our relationship with OnFiber delivers just such a service."
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