Tata Communications launched its next-gen Ethernet network in mid-November, which not only is a pure-play Ethernet offering, but also marks the largest international deployment of 802.1ah Provider Backbone Bridging (PBB) technology to date.
Tata says its new Ethernet network core, which launched with 24 nodes worldwide, carries only Ethernet traffic - as opposed to a converged MPLS/VPLS network - which allows it to provide a wide range of Ethernet services with native Ethernet OAM management throughout, as well as allow customers to select specific routes through its network for diversity, latency or cost reasons.
Tata says it will follow up the launch in the coming months with features such as enhanced multipoint, burstability and usage-based billing. The carrier will also develop its dedicated Ethernet service to scale from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps in 500 Mbps increments.
Tata also touts its use of PBB multipoint-based technology, which it says delivers increased security and better efficiency for multipoint services through its handling of Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. Rather than use customers' MAC addresses for frame forwarding, PBB uses its own B-MAC address within the Tata network, which Tata says can prevent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks from affecting customers.
"Not only does the PBB technology allow us to achieve significant network benefits on our extensive global Ethernet network, but we are now also able to provide our customers with service options that support their growth for the next decade," said Tata Comms president and COO Vinod Kumar in a statement.
The network launch is also a boon for Cisco Systems, whose ASR 9000 aggregation service router series serves as the foundation of the PBB network.