10/9/2007 -- Cisco Systems Inc. last week fleshed out its ME 3400 Series with a new fiber-ready offering, the ME 3400 24FS, which supports 100 Mbps service delivery to multi-dwelling units. With its latest addition to the ME 3400 line, Cisco now fields a serious carrier competitor, thanks to its cost and feature set.

That's the conclusion of research from market watcher Current Analysis Inc., which says that Cisco's ME 3400 -- which targets applications such as Ethernet-to-the-home (ETTH) triple-play services and Ethernet-to-the-business (ETTB) VPN services, along with security solutions for metro Ethernet access -- has the patina of a potential market juggernaut.

"The ME 3400 provides the feature flexibility and aggressive price points to address carrier Ethernet access deployments and, as part of Cisco's [next-generation networking] product portfolio, it is complemented by other products such as the ME 4924 FTTH aggregation platform, which is capable of providing Ethernet-based 100-plus Mbps service, and the scalable 7600 Ethernet router, which is deployed at the service provider's network edge," wrote Glen Hunt, a senior analyst with Current Analysis.

It doesn't hurt that Cisco continues to build or flesh out the ME 3400's feature set, introducing new ME 3400 flavors designed to target specific niches. Hunt cites Cisco's newest ME 3400 entry -- the fiber-ready 3400-FS -- as a particularly strong case-in-point.

"The new ME 3400-FS model extends the fiber reach to address environments such as high-rise multi-tenant units," he said, citing a number of other ME 3400 enhancements, too.

"Cisco has also hardened its carrier Ethernet design, as the ME3400 extends end-to-end resiliency from the IP core through the customer premise, by providing 50-ms recovery in the access layer using Resilient Ethernet Protocol (REP), which enables service providers to offer 24x7 access and tighter service level agreements...to their customers," Hunt continued. "A new embedded event manager facilitates faster issue resolution and offers automated instrumentation and direct access to service information. Further enhancements include IPTV SLA capability, which extends OAM tools to track IP/video multicast channels, provide notification of video quality issues, and deliver support for IP multicast flow/video monitoring and improved troubleshooting."

Add it all up and you've got a compelling platform, according to Hunt. Consider the ME 3400 lineup, which consists of four distinct models: Cisco's newest deliverable -- the ME-3400-24FS -- provides 24 100 SFP access ports and two SFP uplinks. Cisco's ME 3400-24TS provides 24 10/100 access ports and two SFP uplink ports. There's also the ME 3400G-12CS, which provides up to 1GB bandwidth to the home or business by providing 12 dual-purpose ports for access and four ports of SFP for network uplinks. Cisco's ME 3400 lineup is rounded out by the ME 3400G-2CS, which offers two dual-purpose ports for access and two ports of SFP for uplinks. This lets service providers support either 100FX or 1000 BaseX service types, Hunt pointed out.

"As the demand for higher bandwidth and quality of service increase, a cost-effective solution to deliver service to residential communities is critical for service providers," Hunt said.

Cisco's ME 3400 lineup delivers on all counts, Hunt claimed. "With three software packages supported, ME 3400 Series offers service providers a single platform to simplify deployment, management and troubleshooting," he said. "Furthermore, with three different software images, the ME 3400 Series provides better investment protection by enabling advanced features with a simple software upgrade." --Stephen Swoyer