Orange Business Services takes charge of the global Ethernet market

Orange Business Services (NYSE: FTE) continues to hold onto its top spot on Vertical Systems Group's biannual Global Ethernet Leaderboard, a factor that it largely attributes to its broad service reach and divers speed and service suite.

VSG mid-2011 global Ethernet leaderboardVSG's Global Ethernet Leaderboard ranks service providers that hold a 4 percent or greater share of the total market for retail Ethernet ports that are installed outside of the service provider's home country.

Orange certainly fits that profile.

The service provider's Ethernet service is available to multinational customers (MNC) in 40 countries, and Ethernet access to IP/VPN service is available in 62 countries. In addition to having broad reach, Orange's International Ethernet Link offers four classes of service (CoS) designed to prioritize different data streams: voice, standard data, critical data and real-time video.

Not content to rest on its laurels, Orange Business Services scaled its Ethernet connections by 20 percent during the first half of 2011 by adding more than 1,100 Ethernet connections. Over these connections, Orange is offering speeds from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps.

Rosemary Cochran, principal and founder of Vertical Systems Group, said in a recent interview with FierceTelecom that Orange's aggressive drive to make its service available in more places is a key element MNCs look for in a global Ethernet provider.

"If you're a multinational corporation and you can get service from a provider in almost every continent that's a big plus," Cochran said. "When you look at the top tier Orange, in particular, has done a good job with building out their network reach, while Colt has done that well mostly in Europe and Verizon has moved out further into Europe."

Just as important as having broad reach, another critical differentiator is Ethernet access to VPNs. "The one thing is that's making all of these companies stronger is the fact that they all offer Ethernet access to VPNs," she said. "Having that capability is particularly important when you look at the multinational corporation network."

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