3 April 2003 London Lightwave Europe -- COLT Telecom Group claims to be the first company to offer "true end-to-end, international Ethernet services over SDH".
COLT has launched not one but two new Ethernet services: EuroLANLink and CityLANLink. The company says that while the majority of new customers ask for IP VPN services as part of their solution, others still wish to build on their own networks using the simplicity of Ethernet.
Last year market analyst group Gartner predicted that by 2005, over 30% of high-speed telecoms Wide Area Network (WAN) services would use Ethernet.
COLT is responding to this by broadening its portfolio, allowing customers to move towards IP VPN solutions while utilising a customer's existing network infrastructure.
EuroLANLink and CityLANLink are designed to allow businesses to build a unified enterprise network, providing flexible point-to-point connectivity between customer sites in 32 European cities, where COLT has presence. Connecting their WANs in this way enables customers to simplify network management, reduce equipment costs, and add to their infrastructures.
Daryl Szebesta, COLT's Director of Data Services and Systems Outsourcing, said, "There will always be customers who wish to build their own networks. The growing trend is to do this using Ethernet services.
"While most customers coming to COLT are asking for MPLS-based IP VPNs as part of their solution, the simplicity of Ethernet is also attractive, especially the potential cost savings customers can make.
"Ethernet is a well established protocol but still holds untapped benefits for customers. Our focus is to support customers as they migrate towards IP VPN solutions, recognising how evolved their networks are and servicing them accordingly.
"With the LANLink products COLT can extend its excellent customer service through industry leading and competitive service level agreements. We continue to see many customers asking for this kind of service, both in our traditional stronghold - the financial sector - and beyond."