Telstra launches intercontinental Ethernet services

Telstra International has extended its network services with new intercontinental offerings aimed at enterprises needing a global reach.

Available immediately, the Global Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) and Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) will enable multinational companies in Asia, Europe and the US to expand their international reach, and establish scalable connections with regional offices around the world, according to the firm.

The VPLS is designed to provide companies with a fully meshed wide area network (WAN) connection covering multiple global sites, while the EVPL targets customers requiring point-to-point or point-to-multi-point connections. Both services operate at Layer 2 of the IP stack, enabling companies to maintain control of their own traffic routing.

Martin Bishop, Telstra's head of global WAN services, claimed that the market for Ethernet services is currently booming because it simplifies network management and reduces the complexity of IT infrastructures, but has been limited in the past by restricted geographical reach.

"By launching these services on an intercontinental scale and utilising the strength of our coverage in the Asia Pacific region, our customers will be able to enjoy simple to manage, secure and flexible network connections across 29 points of presence in 12 countries across the globe," he said.

The new products offer six classes of service and support for virtual LAN tagging. Customers also get expanded service level agreements offering improved service levels for all performance metrics including availability, latency, jitter, throughput, mean time to repair and service delivery, the company said.