Re: "Is TDM going the way of dial-up?"

[Jared Mauch <jared () puck nether net>]

On Mar 26, 2010, at 11:44 AM, Olsen, Jason wrote:

> > From: Rick Ernst [mailto:nanog () shreddedmail com]
>
>
> > an even bigger bite out of DS-3.  The bigger pipes seem to favor
> > ethernet. A recent upgrade from OC-3 to GigE transport actually saved
> us a large
> > chunk of money.
>
> We recently had exactly the opposite experience, unfortunately.  During
> relocation of our datacenter we asked our MPLS WAN provider to provide
> GigE transport rather than the multiple OC-3s we were using today. To us
> it seemed like it would be cheaper - GigE interfaces, even WAN-PHY rated
> ones, were orders of magnitude cheaper than SONET.  Unfortunately the
> provider came back with absolutely outrageous costs for the port,
> claiming they had to do non-standard agreements with incumbents to
> provide the lines to us (despite the amount of circuits already in the
> site).
>
> This may be more a function of that particular provider, however.

What I've been hearing rumors of is ---

unregulated services (eg: gigaman, opteman) typically have a better price-point if you are going with the carrier of 
choice.

TDM services (DSn/OCn) where there is a standard interconnection method tend to have higher costs than ethernet 
services, but are available when you have multiple carriers involved. (eg: VZ/MCI/XO/QWEST to SBC/ATT) territory.

I see this as a two-fold issue, one, the carriers (ATT) are trying to provide an incentive for shifting away from the 
TDM based services.  At the same time, it's more difficult to deliver service if you're not building to the market.

I would take into account the filing that ATT gave to the FCC recently asking to set a sunset date for their POTS 
(read: TDM) network elements.  This will allow them to leave the markets that are unprofitable, while delivering the 
unregulated (ethernet/IP) services where it currently is profitable.

- Jared