PBT

MPLS standards dustup smacks of Ethernet PBT wars, metro concerns

One of the recent standards flaps in networking is the debate over MPLS-TP versus the older T-MPLS. Standards types can be incredibly obtuse at best, and in arguments they're likely to fall into jargon and acronyms and lose communication with the real world. The publicity on this particular...

Nortel Ethernet auction: Ciena ups bid, NSN steps back

NSN released a statement that it did not submit the highest bid for the Nortel Ethernet assets, and that means

Nortel Carrier Ethernet assets still up for grabs

Nortel’s CEO resigned as the company reported another steep loss and the auction of the

Nortel cut back Carrier Ethernet; focuses on optical

Nortel will be cutting back on its Carrier Ethernet investment and focusing more on optical, according to a leaked memo later largely confirmed by the company. The move is an acknowledgement of the company’s Ethernet woes, which buried its early hopes for the success of its PBT technology....

Juniper’s core virtualization strategy is critical for telecom

Juniper announced a new “core virtualization” strategy with the TX Matrix Plus, and the concept is quite interesting. The new capability links the Juniper JCS1200 for hosted-control-plane and the TX Matrix Plus as a large aggregator/on-ramp to create an IP infrastructure that can be...

Ericsson develops packet-optical gear for metro surge

Ericsson is fielding a line of packet optical gear designed to address the expected surge in metro networking. The new products will support a T-MPLS control plane, but Ericsson plans to upgrade to the more modern MPLS-TP and is also considering PBT (PBB-TE).

Metro capacity may be driven...

Vendors showing up for Carrier Ethernet

NXTcomm 08 was an interesting show, something a lot better than some of the disasters that followed the breakup of the SuperComm partnership, but far less than SuperComm in its prime. <p>We believe this is due not as much to the show as to the industry; infrastructure doesn’t have buzz...

Nortel’s Verizon PBT contract sheds light on Ethernet market

Nortel has announced a PBB win at Verizon, the same provider who reportedly said it would not be using PBT. SInce PBT is officially PBB-TE and is a simple upgrade from PBB, we believe the sequence of events here shows the overall lack of media sanity on key technology issues. First, Verizon's...

PBT setback follows Verizon and BT announcements

Verizon and BT have both announced their commitment to use MPLS as the service architecture for enterprise services and converged services, abandoning their consideration of PBT for the role. We had reported earlier that BT was being lobbied heavily by Cisco and Juniper to make this move, so the...

Carrier Ethernet work continues for inter-provider connections

Vendors and the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) are working to correct an Ethernet omission that may or may not have much relevance to customer interest or service success—the inter-provider NNI. Ethernet standards have not addressed this issue fully because there has been relatively little interest...