Cisco inches Ethernet closer to access

Cisco Systems today announced a new Ethernet switch and multiservice provisioning platform (MSPP) as part of an effort to expand some of its metro product lines into the access market.

At a product level, the company is launching the new ME 6500 Series Ethernet Switch and the ONS 15310 Metro Access MSPP. The former is comprised of several switches that can be deployed in both the access and aggregation layers while the latter is geared to delivering Ethernet over Sonet networks.

The ME line of switches can be used in fiber-to-the-premises applications in which it would sit in the basement of a multi-dwelling unit or office, using carrier fiber to connect to aggregation points of presence.

“We’re getting closer and closer to home with each announcement,” said Mark Milinkovich, director in Cisco’s Service Provider Products and Technologies Marketing Organization. “We’re not making a harsh distinction between fiber to the X, PON or anything else, though.”

The company isn’t quite making a full push into access yet because it believes much of the equipment in the access market has been commoditized. At the same time, Cisco is trying to fill in the gaps of its triple-play product strategy that gets a huge boost when it closes the acquisition of Scientific Atlanta.

“We don’t want to replace the DSLAMs, but we want to aggregate the traffic they’re receiving," Milinkovich said.

The first iteration of the 6500 line will be the ME 6524, which has the same supervisory engine as the company’s 7600 router line, something Milinkovich said will be significant to getting it into the market.

“The full breadth of services you can get in the 7600, you can get in the 6524,” he said.

With the ONS 15310, the company is targeting emerging Ethernet applications in the local loop, including back hauling both data and voice traffic from cell sites.