* This week AT&T brings its virtual private LAN service to 23 more cities
AT&T adds VPLS service to more cities
By Denise Pappalardo
AT&T this week is expected to bring its virtual private LAN service to 23 more cities.
The Optical Ethernet Metropolitan Area Network (Opt-E-MAN) VPLS service, which since 2003 has been offered in 19 cities, offers point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and multipoint-to-multipoint connectivity for customers that want to connect campus or branch locations within a metropolitan area.
Opt-E-MAN is a switched service that runs over Cisco 7609 Series routers at the core and Cisco Catalyst 3550 Series switches at the edge, says Bob Walters, executive director of metropolitan data at AT&T.
For now, AT&T is not offering its service outside legacy SBC’s 13-state local territory, explaining that the service “is most effectively accomplished using our legacy SBC fiber footprint.” It is not clear when the carrier’s only VPLS offering will be available nationally.
“AT&T has not yet made final decisions on a platform for intercity VPLS,” Walters says. “Although a decision has not been made, we fully expect to leverage the resources of our existing [service].” Click here for more.
