What users expect of next-generation optical network services is clear. They want simplicity. They need more flexible service offerings that match the dynamic needs of their businesses. They expect cost curves to decline even as their performance needs grow to match the capacities of their Local Area Network (LAN). And if service providers do not deliver these capabilities with a decided cost and time-to-service advantage, they are likely to take their business elsewhere.

Service providers have responded to these expectations with a robust investment in optical networking technologies. Dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) and high-speed SONET/SDH solutions have enabled massive growth in core capacity during recent years. Surging mostly on the demand for high-growth data services, this buildout includes a new dimension of flexible service capacity enabled by an emerging generation of intelligent optical switches.

The challenge is no longer in building core capacity—there is ample bandwidth to be tapped. The bottleneck is now found in the first mile (or last mile) of the service infrastructure where legacy SONET/SDH time division multiplexing (TDM) technology forces providers into rigid service definitions, high life-cycle costs, and unwanted service delays. The penalties include lost revenue, low margins, and high customer churn.

The limitations of this circuit-optimized infrastructure become even more acute given the growth in packet, largely Internet-driven, traffic. SONET/SDH TDM solutions do not come close to meeting the cost-efficiency of modern packet-switching systems, straining the economic model of carriers as they stretch to meet demand for more bandwidth. And they do not approach the simplicity, scale, and flexibility now being achieved within corporate LANs, creating a significant mismatch between the expectations of the customer and capabilities of the network.