OREANDA-NEWS. June 30, 2011. Fujitsu, a leading provider of business, information technology and communications solutions, announced today the findings of a research report by Network Strategy Partners (now part of ACG Research) in which Fujitsu’s implementation of Connection-Oriented Ethernet (COE), called Ethernet Tag Switching, was shown to reduce service providers’ annual operating expenses by 32 percent over five years when compared to an MPLS-TP implementation.

Connection-Oriented Ethernet is capable of creating, for the first time, a single metro network infrastructure with all the flexibility and cost benefits associated with Ethernet, while providing the performance, quality-of-service and security previously only available via SONET/SDH.

Using their OpEx modeling tools created with data from service providers and equipment manufacturers collected over 13 years, Network Strategy Partners calculated the impact of using Ethernet Tag Switching, and then MPLS-TP, across six categories of service provider operations: OSS System Integration and Software Expenses, Network Management Equipment and Software, Training, Testing and Certification Operations, Network Care and Network Upgrades and Patches. In each category, Fujitsu Ethernet Tag Switching resulted in greater cost savings versus MPLS-TP.

“We found that the Fujitsu Ethernet Tag Switching implementation of COE produces lower OpEx than the MPLS-TP implementation of COE when service providers migrate from a SONET-centric to a packet-centric transport network infrastructure,” said Michael Kennedy, Ph.D., principal analyst for ACG Research. “In particular, Ethernet Tag Switching goes a long way toward simplifying Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) while incorporating widely-accepted Carrier Ethernet standards. The combination allows transport operations personnel to continue using the procedures and applications they’ve used for years, even as service delivery and transport functions become increasingly packet-based.”
“The Network Strategy Partners study reaffirms what we’ve been hearing from customers for a number of years,” said Ralph Santitoro, Director of Carrier Ethernet Market Development, Fujitsu Network Communications and founding member and director of the Metro Ethernet Forum. “Since we began integrating Ethernet Tag Switching COE into our award-winning Packet-Optical Networking Platforms, service providers have embraced the technology. They view using COE as the way to lower operating costs, preserve existing network and OAM investments and migrate towards delivering high performance Ethernet services driving the next generation of communications. We’re gratified to see that the study results mirror the experiences and expectations of our customers.”

Analysts at ACG Research provide market analysis and consulting to help service providers and vendors monetize their existing infrastructures and increase operational efficiency and profitability. Their study, “OpEx Benefits of the Fujitsu Ethernet Tag Switching Implementation of Connection-Oriented Ethernet,” can be downloaded at http://www.nspllc.com/Fujitsu-Ethernet-Tag-Switching-vs-MPLS-TP-OpEx-Comparison.pdf. A webinar will be presented on this topic on July 13, 2011.