Global Crossing revs up: Network provider unveils ATM, OC-192 strategies

Global Crossing demonstrated the strength and versatility of its global network last week with the announcement of a successful IP-over-OC-192 field trial. Separately the company stated that it will offer wholesale ATM to the carrier market.

On the IP side of its network, Global Crossing unveiled its OC-192 capabilities using Lucent Technologies' multiterabit switch/ router and its own Pirelli-based wave division multiplexing (WDM) transmission system.

For a month, Global Crossing tested OC-192 on its Chicago-to-Cleveland route in both directions, showing that the company is "ahead of where it needs to be with IP," said Alan Hannan, senior director of IP architecture and engineering for Global Crossing.

Although Global Crossing's network is ready for OC-192, Hannan stressed that the company is not running OC-192 now, nor has it purchased any equipment. Global Crossing's move from its current OC-48 network to OC-192 depends on technology maturation, demand for OC-192 and pricing.Global Crossing uses OC-48 in parallel to meet traffic demands, which continue to double every four to six months, Hannan said. But the switch to OC-192 will happen some time next year, he predicted. Lucent was Global Crossing's first choice for the OC-192 switch/router because "they were the first to market with regards to IP over OC-192," he said.

The multiterabit switch/router supports OC-192 at 10 Gb/s. "It's 100 times better in switching capacity compared to conventional solutions," said Mukesh Chatter, vice president and general manager of core routing technologies at Lucent. "It's four times more bandwidth at little incremental cost."

Global Crossing plans to test similar OC-192 products from Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks in the future, Hannan said. Because Global Crossing's Pirelli-based network is compatible with Lucent's switch/routers, Global Crossing can "interoperate with anyone in the world" on its Sonet network, regardless of national boundaries or vendor equipment, he said.

Taking advantage of the ATM network acquired through the merger with Frontier, Global Crossing also will offer wholesale ATM supporting data, Internet, video and voice on a single platform. The network will allow customers to prioritize traffic and allocate bandwidth, reducing operational costs, improving efficiency and simplifying network management.

Targeted at ISPs, data competitive local exchange carriers and carriers that require high-speed data transport, the wholesale ATM network is built on Lucent switches with an OC-48 backbone over dense WDM, said Annmarie Buscaglia, senior project manager for Global Crossing. With access speeds ranging from T-1 to OC-12, the network has capabilities of 2.5 Gb/s.

Global Crossing's ATM network stands out because of its inverse multiplexing abilities, Buscaglia said. It can be configured to support each customer's specific backbone requirements, allowing more scalable options. A customer can order multiple T-1s instead of leaping all the way to a DS-3, for example. "So you could get 6 Mb/s instead of jumping all the way to 45 Mb/s" and avoid paying for unused bandwidth, she said.

Customers also will be able to take advantage of uCommand, a Web-based interface that allows viewing of network reports and information.

The ATM offering and the OC-192 tests are part of Global Crossing's plans to offer "global solutions to customers," said Anthony Palma, vice president of carrier marketing for Global Crossing, adding that by offering Sonet, IP and ATM, the company rounds out its connectivity set.

Global Crossing has built a seamless end-to-end network, independent of countries or boundaries, Hannan said. "Anybody can get on, and off we go."