NGN through MPLS

Traffic on the roads is one thing, but traffic on the Internet? This however
is increasingly becoming a trouble point for many enterprises, and especially
for Internet service providers (ISP) whose business is essentially data
connectivity. As with many of their other divisions, enterprises are outsourcing
their IT and telecom infrastructure to experts with domain knowledge, so that
they can concentrate on their core business. This is where Multiprotocol Label
Switching (MPLS), comes in. What MPLS basically does is it gives network
operators the flexibility they need to route traffic around link failures,
congestion and bottlenecks. It is a quality of service-based IP platform that
enables service providers to manage client networks efficiently. Although at a
nascent stage in India, for data connectivity, MPLS VPN is gradually gaining
momentum in the marketplace.

There are quite a few players in this arena who are all set to cash in on the
growing market for MPLS. Some provide the solutions while others offer devices
that are used when deploying MPLS networks.

“Public and private service providers have big plans for deployment of triple play services and MPLS will be the key technology for the deployment of these networks” A Sethuraman Chief Marketing Officer-South Asia, Alcatel-Lucent	“Most of the routers used in enterprise environment do not support MPLS. Hence, there is a cost of migrating the network from a native IP to IP/MPLS” Prasad Babu Director, Systems Engineering and Operations, Juniper Networks India

Waiting to be explored

Speaking about the opportunities in this market, Dinesh Verma,
President-Business Develop-ment, Tulip IT Services said, “We expect the Indian
connectivity business to surpass Rs 1,200 crore by the end of 2007 and then
continue to grow by 20 percent YoY for at least the next five years.” He added
that the driving factor would be the emergence of IP, as a unified communication
platform amongst Indian companies who are beginning to look at IP as a unified
medium to communicate on voice, data and video.

Advantages

Throwing light on the advantages of MPLS, A Sethuraman, Chief Marketing
Officer-South Asia, Alcatel-Lucent said, “For a fraction of the expense incurred
in installing a dedicated network, MPLS allows IP traffic to be classified,
marked and policed, while consistently providing a method by which Layers 2 and
3 can exchange data. MPLS does not replace IP, rather, it supplements IP.”

One of the companies offering MPLS services is Tulip IT Services. The company
has been providing end-to-end MPLS-based services to its customers with most of
the installations on a wireless last mile. Explaining the role of MPLS, Verma
said, “MPLS combines the features

of frame relay (FR) and IP.

This makes the platform as secure, robust and PVC driven as an FR but with
the flexibility of IP, as far as routing issues are concerned.”

Some of the benefits of MPLS are its simplified VPN network, secured network,
low latency, reliability and any-to-any network connectivity. Describing MPLS
technology as a matured technology, Jayant Deo, President, RAD India said,
“Because of the reliability and maturity of MPLS technology, optical equipment
manufacturers are adopting generalized multiprotocol label switching (GMPLS)
protocol, which is based on features of MPLS.”

Alcatel-Lucent, claims its solutions can help carriers evolve their networks
to offer new services ubiquitously across the network, allow operations to
implement a smooth transition to consolidate network architecture and provide a
unified approach to a portfolio of services that are independent of
infrastructure deployment constraints.

“MPLS combines the features of FR and IP. This makes the platform as secure, robust and PVC driven as FR but with the flexibility of IP, as far as routing issues are concerned” Dinesh Verma President-Business Development, Tulip IT Services	“Because of the reliability and maturity of MPLS technology, optical equipment manufacturers are adopting GMPLS protocol, which is based on features of MPLS” Jayant Deo President, RAD India

Juniper's E-series enables service providers to offer differentiated services
via a common IP-based network, as well as attain better network utilization,
avoiding hot spots that are typically associated with the use of traditional IP
routing technologies. Since label switched paths (LSPs) are engineered to
provide specific levels of service, service providers can use MPLS to
deterministically allocate network resources based upon the specific
requirements of the traffic. “With the flexible MPLS capabilities of the ERX,
service providers may create highly customized IP services for their
subscribers,” commented Prasad Babu, Director-Systems Engineering and
Operations, Juniper Networks India.

Gauging the market

“With most big ISPs already being equipped with MPLS backbones the Indian
market appears to be ready for the adoption of MPLS,” opined Deo. “All the top
public and private service providers have very big plans for the deployment of
triple play services and MPLS will be the key technology for the deployment of
these networks. MPLS is also a key technology for operators building their
backbone IP network to cater to the increase in mobile and broadband traffic,”
Sethuraman added. The SMB is a large and growing segment and this is one section
that most companies have identified as target areas in their marketing
strategies. This is because the SMB segment, which represents a major chunk of
business in India, has started recognizing IT as a huge enabler and is looking
forward to making substantial investments in this field to get streamlined with
the latest in the market.

While MPLS essentially started out in the service provider space, it has a
strong enterprise focus. Throwing light on this trend, which is picking up in
India Babu said, “At the moment, enterprises are trying to understand MPLS
technology better after seeing how service providers are using it. Big
enterprises have already started to use MPLS in a major way. In fact, many of
these organizations have started to become service providers.”

Problem areas

Showing much optimism about the MPLS market Deo stated, “Because of the
already grown MPLS market in India and its adoption by ISPs there are not many
barriers for this technology.” But in a country where network connectivity in
rural areas is a major issue, MPLS is sure to face a snag. “One of the main
hurdles in the deployment of MPLS is the poor infrastructure available in the
interior parts of India. Price is another factor. The capital expenditure of
many products that tap the maximum benefits from MPLS are still very high.

Another reason for the slow adoption of MPLS may be attributed to the limited
skill sets that IT/network teams within enterprise have on MPLS. Hence
technology understanding is a hurdle. For an enterprise to have true MPLS
backbone, it must have core network routers that are upgraded to MPLS. “Most of
the routers used in enterprise environment do not support MPLS. Hence there is a
cost of migrating the network from a native IP to IP/MPLS,” clarified Babu. He
added that MPLS can be implemented selectively in the network and hence the
investment to migrate to MPLS can be incremental. Also, most of the installed
base of enterprise routers have reached end of life (EOL) or are on the verge of
becoming EOL. The enterprise customer will have to migrate and during this
process, it is important for them to ensure that they procure routers that
support extensive set of MPLS features.

Although the backbone networks of ISPs is currently voice driven, more data,
Internet and multimedia traffic is sure to grow. As these intricacies increase
in the networks, efficient utilization of the bandwidth and the need for QoS
will also increase.

Ruth Samson