MARCH 23, 2009 By Stephen Hardy -- Verizon (search Lightwave for Verizon), apparently quite happy with the packet optical transport platforms (P-OTPs) it has purchased for its metro network, now wants to extend the concept to the core.
So said Stuart Elby, vice president, network architecture, this morning during a panel discussion at the Executive Forum co-presented by the Optical Society of America and Lightwave in conjunction with OFC/NFOEC in San Diego. Elby said that Verizon will attempt to drum up vendor interest in producing such a platform during the week.
Elby said the platform would combine switching, SONET, and MPLS-TP functionality for use in Verizon's core network. Elby added he expected the platform, which Verizon would like to see deployed in 2011/2012, will transport traffic at 40 and 100 Gbps and connect the carrier's backbone routers. The long-haul P-OTP will have to work with the existing fiber plant and huts domestically and globally.
The carrier is developing models to help define requirements, working with the elements of the vendor community. Elby said that the platform will replace existing systems but not as "a flash cut." Instead, the capability will be integrated into the existing network when and where needed.
With new traffic generated through its FiOS initiative washing into the metro, Verizon expects a wave of traffic to reach the core in the next few years. Elby said that Verizon finds that optical transport is more economical than other alternatives; therefore, the carrier wants to address its emerging core requirements at the optical layer rather than alternatives such as the IP layer.
While he expects Verizon's overall capex to remain flat over the next few years (the economy willing), he added that long haul requirements may receive an increasing share of planned spending.