One such effort is to make it carrierclass.
In its transformation to being a viable candidate beyond the LAN, this effort is a
prerequisite, and although there has been considerable work done in this area, it still
largely remains in its infancy.
The increasing competition, especially from newer players such as Cable/MSOs in
North America, is making the cannibalization scenario moot; it is not simply about losing
out on some of the existing revenue but rather losing out on customers (and hence, losing out
on all revenue). The latter situation is obviously less acceptable to incumbent Service
Providers, and they have no choice but to undertake Ethernet deployment more aggressively
and seize the growing demand for Ethernet services. The fact that numerous up
and coming services like Voice over IP (VOIP) are actually better suited to deployment
over an Ethernet/IP infrastructure and that legacy services can be accommodated by
circuit emulation techniques is actually negating the cannibalization argument.
The next chapter begins with a formal definition of Carrier Ethernet services and
presents the broader framework that identifies the specific capabilities necessary to
enable such services in Service Provider MANs and WANs.
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