2/27/2006 -- In tandem last week with its new Metro Ethernet product announcements, Cisco Systems Inc. also announced a new ONS 15310 Metro Access (MA) multiservice provisioning platform (MSPP).

Cisco's new MA offering can switch both packet and TDM traffic and interfaces with circuit-based and Ethernet/MPLS backbone networks. Analysts say the ONS 15310-MA lets carriers support legacy TDM services and at the same time realize new Ethernet service revenues over SONET-based networks -- for both business and residential triple-play services.

All told, Cisco's new MA deliverable is something of a mixed bag, analysts say.

"Additional capacity for TDM and Ethernet services improves carrier metro aggregation and wireless backhaul capabilities for more efficient transport onto ONS 15454-enabled metro rings," says Jason Marcheck, a principal analyst for carrier infrastructure with Current Analysis. "However, with the ONS 15327 serving an almost identical role, it is unclear how this new MSPP fits into Cisco's portfolio." In other words, Marcheck asks, is Cisco's new MA offering a replacement or complement to the existing ONS 15327?

For example, the new ONS 15310 supports 26 to 168 DS-1 and three to six DS-3/ECI. It can support between 1.5Mbps to 2.5Gbps TDM, along with 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet interfaces. In all of these respects, the ONS 15310 improves upon the existing ONS 15327. The new deliverable also supports LCAS, Marcheck notes, which can help carriers allocate bandwidth more efficiently, along with controller and switch fabric redundancy.

"It is also worthwhile to note that Cisco received the Metro Ethernet Forum's MEF9 Carrier Ethernet certification," he writes. "As one of the leading champions of Ethernet transport in metro networks, conformance to the MEF's recommendations indicates that the Cisco platform meets requirements for deployment in carrier Ethernet networks that have been agreed upon by a broad swatch of equipment vendors and service providers."

All told, there's a lot to recommend in Cisco's newest MA deliverable. "Cisco is well established in the metro access market with its ONS product portfolio. The vendor cites more than 100 customers for the similar ONS 15327 and claims to have installed more than 500 of the larger ONS 15454 platforms," he explains, noting that carriers are now being expected to provide multi-service traffic provisioning and transport. "It is against this backdrop that Cisco introduced its latest platform –- one that not only increases the capacity of its current metro access MSPP, but also adds elements of protection and redundancy required by both fixed line and wireless service providers."

So much for the good. On the mixed-bag front, Marcheck thinks Cisco could have delivered an even more competitive ONS 15310 product. "While the ONS 15310-MA does offer increased capacity, Cisco passed on the opportunity to improve the overall flexibility of its offer by deciding not to support SAN protocols and WDM interfaces," he argues, conceding that while WDM in access networks "seems like overkill," WDM will increasingly be incorporated into first-mile networks as demand for IP-based video services rises. "And with regard to support for protocols such as ESCON, FICON and Fibre Channel, with SAN extension services becoming increasingly popular, SAN interfaces in metro access MSPPs are also becoming an important feature for vendors to support."

Elsewhere, the ONS 15310 does not support SDH interfaces, although -- Marcheck points out -- Cisco isn't necessarily the strongest player in the SDH market. "However, the fact remains that it is a player in those markets, and with the ONS 15310-MA being positioned as a wireless backhaul aggregation device, it stands to reason that the failure to support SDH means that Cisco is foregoing the opportunity to sell to wireless operators outside North America." -Stephen Swoyer