Remember, convergence does include data

What service provider wouldn't want to capture total voice-and-data account control of its customers? But in the rush by edge vendors to label everything they come up with "convergence-ready," the industry is in danger of forgetting why convergence is such a major issue today. It's because of the data revolution.

The critical need of even moderate-sized users to create internal corporate wide-area data networks and various kinds of extranets has built up an infrastructure that may be used to furnish "free" - or at least non-toll-sensitive - voice carriage. But it was the data networking needs that caused these nets - and the Internet itself - to be built in the first place.

So maybe it won't surprise you to hear that at some of the seminars that Network World holds for end users, the abstract concept of "convergence" pales in comparison to the interest expressed in broadband metropolitan data networks. One idea in particular gets their juices flowing: metro-area Gigabit Ethernet.

Are the legacy carriers lagging behind this potentially explosive user demand? Quite possibly. Their ATM-based integrated-access schemes shout "convergence" but mostly run at non-thrilling speeds like T-1. That opens up an opportunity for newer carriers and their equipment providers who know how to put their best data foot forward.

For example, this week on The Edge, we report on Extreme Networks' new Gigabit Ethernet switches for metro carriers' networks and multitenant office buildings. Extreme is one of the companies that has made a splash in enterprise networks' recent move to Layer 3 switching and Gigabit Ethernet. So a service provider touting Extreme gear in their points of presence and for placement on customer premises could gain more of an ear with users than touting an unfamiliar start-up's "integrated-access device."

Extreme touts Ethernet for broadband metro-area network

One interesting fact to note: Extreme is currently among the companies luring 3Com end users with discounts following 3Com's recent move to shelve its CoreBuilder line of LAN switches. Extreme is even hiring 200 sales reps from 3Com, giving it broader visibility among prime users.

Sure, Ethernet doesn't have as fully developed a convergence story as ATM, though relatively new prioritization protocols such as 802.1p give it some play there. And you can bet that many edge vendors, like the Cabletron spinoff Riverstone, that are pushing the idea of extending Gigabit Ethernet out into the carrier world will show how to merge data and voice infrastructures.

Cabletron spinoff aims for next-generation carriers

But remember, what keeps many sizable users up at night is finding wider pipes for their data traffic, and they have little trouble filling T-1 pipes individually for voice and data. Remember, too, the lesson of frame relay vs. ATM: Users will stick with a technology once they know it. And if there's one technology that much of the installed base out there knows, it's Ethernet. That's something to think about when you consider how to get your foot in the door of new accounts.

3Com exits enterprise network stage
Network World, 03/20/00.

Users give Cabletron split a cautious thumbs up
Network World, 02/28/00.