Verizon and Juniper to Reach Eight Terabits in MPLS

By Steve Anderson, Contributing TMCnet Writer

Recently, Verizon (News - Alert) and Juniper Networks have joined together in order to devise a plan to improve MPLS—Multi-Protocol Label Switching—to such a degree that their platform will be the densest in the industry. With a combination of Verizon's network and Juniper Networks' (News - Alert) PTX packet transport switches, the two will yield an MPLS setup that offers an initial capacity measuring eight terabits per second.

With the new system in place, Verizon’s global IP backbone will be boosted to 100G Ethernet, which in turn will allow for customer access at speeds of 10G or better as well as putting some necessary infrastructure in play for their FiOS (News - Alert), wireless and cloud services. The power behind this new network capability comes largely from Verizon's use of the Juniper Networks PTX Series hardware, which can reach speeds of up to 16 terabits per second and offer density in services ranging from 10G all the way to 100G Ethernet systems.

Ihab Tarazi, Verizon's vice president of global IP and transport planning and technology, summed up the reasons behind the expansion: “In a world where customer needs and speeds are steadily increasing, Verizon will be able to improve the scalability and efficiency of its core MPLS network by employing the industry-leading switch density of the Juniper Networks PTX. The PTX provides significant packet processing power, system scale and reduced power consumption – all of which will help Verizon meet its future needs."

Verizon plans to have the new switches in place in their biggest European and United States markets by the end of the year, which will no doubt prove welcome for Verizon customers. The increased use of Internet-based services in general including online gaming, video, music, cloud storage and more is all pointing to a system that will simply require one of two possible solutions: more capacity or less usage. While some companies seem to be looking into ways to discourage their customers from accessing online services in the first place, others are looking to improve their network to such a degree that it won't matter what users throw at it. It's not hard to wonder from there if those providers will be the ones to emerge with the bulk of the available subscriber market when it's all said and done.

Still, it will be exciting to see just what effect Verizon and Juniper Networks' new technology ultimately has on the overall market, and we should start finding out in a matter of months.

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