SEPTEMBER 12, 2005

Continuing to stuff more features onto its 7750 Service Router, Alcatel is releasing software today that cranks up support for Layer 2 services (see Alcatel Upgrades Routers ).

The new features for the 7750 and the 5620 Services Availability Manager (SAM) reflect the persistence of older services. Carriers are keen on moving all customer traffic to a converged network based on Internet Protocol (IP) and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) but have always known the migration would be slow. In the past couple of years, it's become increasingly clear just how slow, prompting Layer 3 plays such as Alcatel's to show a little more love for Layer 2.

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