Frame relay and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) are complementary rather than competitive technologies, according to a panel of experts at the Frame Relay Forum at Supercomm '99 in Atlanta. The research predicts the frame relay services market...
MPLS is backed by heavyweights like Cisco, Lucent and Nortel who are involved in the core and newer companies including Juniper, Pluris and Torrent - a subsidiary of Ericsson - beavering away on new variations.
Besides the increasingly popular IP, it works with protocols such as ATM and Frame Relay. Bobst has signed a four-year contract for an MPLS-enabled IP VPN, pulling together 22 sites in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
However IP traffic is transported - either over SDH or an IP overlay network - the aim is to provide a multiservice network capable of great things. But it may well provide the basis for the mythical multiservice network, where enterprises will be...
Pauli Nuutinen, VP corporate IT services at Metso, said the decision to consolidate with AT&T and IP VPN was taken against a background of years of acquisitions and a move away from frame relay. AT&T is among a top tier of international carriers...
Ethernet spend is growing at the expense of Frame Relay, ATM and SDH leased lines. Ethernet VPNs are starting to be adopted as replacements for FR and ATM VPNs and may displace IP VPNs in some parts of the market.