Dec, 2001 : Level 3 Launches Ethernet Private Line in U.S. and Europe

📅 December 17, 2001 - Level 3 Communications, Inc. (level3.com) today announced ithas launched a new MPLS-based Ethernet private line service in the U.S. andEurope. The new service offers customers secure Ethernet-based datatransmission to and from 33 cities in the U.S. and Europe over Level 3'sintercity and transatlantic fiber-optic network. Level 3 also announcedplans today to offer MPLS-based ATM and Frame Relay services in early 2002.

Level 3's new MPLS service, combined with the company's metropolitanEthernet service introduced last year, enables Level 3's customers toprovide end-to-end Ethernet service to and from businesses at speeds of upto one-gigabit per second. This new service extends existing local areanetworks into Level 3's metropolitan and long haul networks with minimalincremental operational or capital expenditures for Level 3, its customers,or end users, the company says. Level 3 also says it can provision the newservice within days of an order.
"The launch of this new MPLS service is another step we're taking to servethe top 300 companies with substantial needs for bandwidth services," saidDan Caruso, group vice president of network business for Level 3. "Webelieve that MPLS will do for packet transport services what the Level 3softswitch platform has done for the wholesale dial-up Internet accessmarket, namely lower network infrastructure costs and improve margins forcarriers, ISPs and other communications companies."
MPLS, which stands for multi-protocol label switching, allows networkequipment to speed the delivery of information through a communicationsnetwork by sensing continuous streams of data, like private lines, androuting that information based on pre-assigned labels and not individualpacket addresses. Additionally, MPLS technology gives network serviceproviders the ability to prioritize the delivery of certain classes oftraffic, much like package delivery services do. Level 3 is using theMartini Draft, a method upon which all current Layer 2 MPLS private networksare based. The Martini Draft was authored by Level 3 engineers, includingLuca Martini, for whom the method is named.
"MPLS is a revolutionary transport routing technology that allows Level 3 tostreamline, simplify and lower the cost structure of its network managementand operations," added Caruso. "Our new MPLS-based Ethernet private lineservice is controlled and maintained entirely by Level 3, providing both usand our customers with an economically superior, easy to manage datatransmission method that's not vulnerable to cross-network performancedegradation or compatibility.
"MPLS-based services are an evolutionary way for Level 3 to provide itscustomers with data services," said Lisa King-Guillaume, vice president ofMPLS services for Level 3. "Featuring distance-insensitive pricing, our newMPLS-based Ethernet private line offering is a usage-based service thattransmits data securely from point to point. MPLS also enables us to provideguaranteed QoS across a shared network infrastructure, and gives us theability to converge multiple layer 2 network protocols - Ethernet, ATM,Frame Relay - over our backbone. MPLS also gives us the ability to supportthe new service with service-specific SLAs that cover latency, packet loss,jitter and network availability."