TeleGeography: Partnerships key to scaling international VPN coverage

As more multinational enterprises adopt cloud-based services and videoconferencing to conduct business, they are looking to their respective service providers for wider IP VPN and Ethernet coverage, and service providers are responding by expanding their offerings by as much as 40 percent in international markets.   

Between Q3 2010 and Q3 2011, the availability of Ethernet-based services (EoMPLS, EoSDH, and VPLS) rose 40 percent, while international IP VPN service availability grew 8 percent.  

To expand the reach of their respective IP VPN offerings, the majority of the service providers surveyed said they had to work with various service provider wholesale partners. Out of the 73 service providers that took part in the study, only four were able to deliver on-net VPN service in half of the 166 cities covered.

Leading the charge for on-net international IP VPN services was Orange Business Services, which said it could deliver on-net VPN service in over 90 percent of the markets it covers.

No less aggressive were AT&T (NYSE: T) and BT Global Services (NYSE: BT), serving 61 and 60 percent, respectively, followed by Telstra International (ASX: TLS.AX) at 55 percent. Sprint (NYSE: S), a service provider that is continually expanding its IP VPN access into various international countries, also made it into the top five list, delivering on-net service in 46 percent of the cities it serves.

While the initial focus for AT&T and Orange have been on expanding their international MPLS IP VPN PoPs, TeleGeography argues that upcoming network expansions will center on Ethernet-based services.

Telegeography on-net VPN service

For more:
- TeleGeography has this report

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