There’s a bit going on in MPLS this week with some big name networks. MPLS, or multi protocol label switching, gives network operators a great deal of flexibility to divert and route traffic around link failures, congestion and bottlenecks. So, what does this mean for Nokia Siemens (News - Alert) (NSN), Telefonica and UNSi?
For Nokia Siemens and Telefonica, it’s successful optical network testing. NSN announced a successful test and integration of their FlexGrid technology based on the hiT 7300 platform. What this means for Telefonica (News - Alert) is cost-efficient content distribution.
NSN’s FlexiGrid technology is based on GMPLS, so spectral efficiency has been increased by 50 percent. In terms of network transport, Telefonica has seen improvement as of late, giving it the ability to meet the varying consumer demands that come with mobile network traffic loads.
From a QoS standpoint, Telefonica will better be able to manage different kinds of data streams based on priority. Those who receive a lot of streaming media or high-bandwidth content can see minimal latency and packet loss.
“As capacity demand in backbone networks increases year by year, operators face the constant challenge of managing the growing demand cost-efficiently while maintaining service performance," said Herbert Merz, head of Optical Networks, Nokia Siemens Networks (News - Alert) in a statement. “We have a long-standing relationship with Telefónica and are committed to supporting their network evolution by delivering industry-leading optical layer efficiency and flexibility while protecting their investment in the existing infrastructure."
In other MPLS news, UNSi has formed a partnership with SimpleSignal (News - Alert), a collaboration that will add a Network-to-Network Interface (NNI) between UNSi’s MPLS Network and SimpleSignal’s Voice platform. Customers will now be able to gain access to UNSi’s extensive MPLS suite, giving customers the best connection possible.
The strategic alliance also means organizations who are spread out with multiple locations will be able to use high-performance cloud-based services powered by UNSi’s MPLS backbone.
“We are thrilled to partner with a very reputable cloud-based voice company like SimpleSignal,” stated Allan Schwartz, SVP of Strategic Planning & Business Development for UNSi. “Both of our customer bases will benefit tremendously from this partnership by the growing demand for cloud-based services.”
One of the oft-cited benefits of MPLS is the ability to assign QoS features to traffic. Because MPLS works with a system of labels, customers can determine prioritization levels associated with those labels.
“We believe that UNSi is one of the strongest MPLS providers in the industry and are excited to meet our customer demands nationwide by leveraging their expansive reach which opens up many more opportunities for us,” Michael Sterl, EVP Sales for SimpleSignal concluded.
Edited by Jamie Epstein