Verizon Business Launches Nationwide Ethernet Virtual Private LAN Service

Verizon Business Launches Nationwide Ethernet Virtual Private LAN Service

The service is designed to give U.S. businesses and government agencies the ability to link their Ethernet LANs that are scattered among various locations.

Verizon Business on Monday launched an Ethernet Virtual Private LAN Service (E-VPLS) that's designed to give U.S. businesses and government agencies the ability to link their Ethernet LANs that are scattered throughout various locations.

The technology, which utilizes Verizon's converged packet architecture, allows users to adjust network bandwidth from 1 Mbps to 1 Gbps. The boost in data speeds transmits voice and data applications efficiently and cost effectively, Verizon said.

"This new service combines the simplicity of Ethernet, the reliability of synchronous optical network, and the flexibility of multiprotocol label switching to help organizations cost-effectively upgrade their existing corporate networks for converged voice, data, and video applications," said Tom Roche, Verizon's VP of business data products, in a statement.

As a layer 2 networking technology, the Verizon E-VPLS offering lets customers control their own routing and not be dependant on a service provider. E-VPLS is useful for frame relay or ATM users who want to upgrade their WANs. The new offering is protocol independent and supports both IP and non-IP applications, according to Verizon.

E-VPLS establishes priorities for four classes of service as follows: Real Time, Priority, Business, and Basic Data. For instance, users can stipulate that business-critical apps receive the highest priority on a network. An advantage of the Real Time class of service is that it's capable of carrying latency-sensitive traffic like VoIP and digital video.