Alcatel today announced what it says is the industry's first service interworking capability
between frame relay and Ethernet VPN services. The feature is available now as a free software upgrade to the company’s 7670 Routing Switch Platform.
The software-upgraded version of the 7670 maps frame services and Ethernet services into a single unified VPN to allow for seamless management, low opex and low capex, says Vinay Rathore, director of strategic marketing for Alcatel’s fixed communication group.
Rathore explains that not only is frame relay not going away, but it’s actually growing in terms of service revenus. At the same time, he says, the economics of Ethernet are attractive to customers. The interworking solution allows carriers with existing frame relay services to leverage experience and investment in that legacy solution while meeting today’s customers needs, he says. This would enable a carrier to offer gigabit Ethernet service to a company’s headquarters office and link up remote branch offices with frame relay, but have the whole solution look seamless to the customer, for example, says Rathore.
According to Rathore, several industry groups have recently begun standards work on a frame relay to Ethernet interworking spec, but none have yet come out with anything close to a final draft on the matter.
