Q&A: Cisco VP Mark de Simone Discusses How Long-Reach Ethernet Helps Deliver Metro Ethernet Services to EMEA

June 4, 2003

By Jenny Carless, News@Cisco

At the recent Cisco Systems Metro Ethernet Summit in Vienna, Austria, the company made several announcements, one of which detailed its enhanced Long-Reach Ethernet (LRE) technology - part of the company's overall solution for delivering Metro Ethernet services. The new LRE technology - including the Cisco Catalyst 2950 LRE 997 and Cisco 576 LRE Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) - enables service providers to expand their Ethernet-based broadband services over existing copper infrastructure, allowing them to deliver symmetric bandwidth services to small and medium businesses, municipalities, and residential users.

News@Cisco approached Mark de Simone, VP Technology and Solutions Marketing, Cisco Systems EMEA, to put this announcement in context. Here he discusses the LRE announcement, key trends in Metro Ethernet/Broadband in EMEA, and what Cisco is doing to help its customers.

How does this announcement fit into Cisco's overall broadband strategy in EMEA?

Mark de Simone: This LRE technology is an integral part of Cisco's overall Ethernet solution. Service providers need a combination of fiber technologies and those that work over the phone lines; copper is available, and it makes sense to use it to deliver Metro Ethernet services cost-effectively.

It's important to note, however, that we don't see LRE replacing DSL or Ethernet over fiber; rather, it complements the two. LRE isn't as future-proof as fiber, since the bandwidth capacity of fibre is so much greater, so we expect that service providers will push out fiber where possible, and LRE will complement that effort where copper is available and fiber is not cost-effective. Cisco is technology agnostic, so from our perspective LRE adds to our overall broadband access portfolio.

Cisco's LRE solution offers a range of intelligent switching functionality and features in the areas of advanced quality of service (QoS), high availability, and enhanced security, making it the most complete solution in the market today.

Why is LRE helpful to customers in Europe?

Mark de Simone: LRE's key value proposition is that service providers can deliver all the same commercial services that can be delivered with fiber - like VoIP, broadcast TV, video on demand, and video conferencing along with high speed data - over existing phone lines.

The bottom line is that this offers incumbents a way of leveraging their copper asset to provide real broadband services, and for Metro Ethernet players to broaden their service offer.

Almost all the large players have already got a mass market DSL offer, and some now have Gigabit Ethernet over fiber, too. This fills a gap; it helps to provide a stepping-stone between the two offerings, and it gives the providers access to high speeds and revenue-generating applications at a sensible price point.

What differentiates the Metro Ethernet market in EMEA from that in other parts of the world?

Mark de Simone: Some of the early innovators of the Metro Ethernet model such as Bredbandsbolaget (B2; Sweden), Lyse Energy (Norway), and FastWeb (Italy), are based in EMEA. That's had a knock-on effect and has opened many people's eyes as to the possibilities of what services can be delivered with Metro Ethernet infrastructures. So Metro Ethernet has become more widespread in EMEA as a result.

We also have population densities and geographies that lend themselves to Metro Ethernet. Many European cities are compact and would lend themselves to fibre deployments. Coupled with shorter copper loop lengths in general, Metro Ethernet can be made to work in a variety of ways. Service providers can deploy LRE in telephone exchanges and reach a higher number of subscribers than in some U.S. cities, for example, where the population is more spread out.

Finally, the regulatory environment here allows more competition than in many other regions and therefore helps drive all these new services.

What is leading the market in EMEA?

Mark de Simone: It's all about the drive for services. Right now, some of Cisco's EMEA customers have some of the largest fibre deployments in the world, and Europe is leading the charge as to what services are offered. Metro Ethernet is growing very rapidly, over both fibre and LRE.

When you look at end users, it's really a "chicken and egg" scenario: give them bandwidth, they realize what they can do with it, and they want more. The fact that end customers can now get access to video on demand, VoIP, broadcast TV, residential video conferencing, and more - all through a single fiber into the home - has really shaken up the market.

Small and medium business (SMB) customers want symmetric upstream and downstream transmissions for greater connectivity, as employees access networks remotely and need the same kinds of speeds they can have in the office. Secure storage requires symmetric bandwidth, also.

In addition to today's announcement, what else is Cisco involved in that benefits its Metro Ethernet customers in EMEA?

Mark de Simone: We're working with a variety of local authorities and municipalities who are interested in Metro Ethernet initiatives. They recognize that Metro Ethernet helps local economies by stimulating the SMB sector and provides quality of life benefits to citizens. It also helps government entities reduce the costs of dealing with their citizens as the end customer.

MKB Fastighets, a real estate management company owned by the City of Malmv in Sweden, is a great example. MKB has built its own high-speed broadband network to offer its tenants a choice of data, voice, and video services from various service providers. MKB has also streamlined its own service offerings, such as online booking of tenants facilities; management of fire, burglar, and safety alarms; and electronic communication with tenants.

We also working very closely with Utility providers, who potentially have access to a key asset - the underground 'ducts' that can be used to extend fibre cost-effectively out to consumers and businesses.