Verizon Business has rolled out a nationwide WAN service, dubbed Virtual Private LAN Service, or E-VPLS, the first such service from large telecom carriers. The service, delivered over Verizon Business" existing converged packet network, allows enterprise customers the flexibility to adjust their networks" bandwidth from 1 Mbps to 1 Gbps. The new service is aimed at companies that want the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of Ethernet service paired with a nationwide WAN, Verizon said. "We have extreme coverage. We"re not starting from scratch in terms of network deployment," said Michael Volgende, Verizon Business" director of Ethernet services.
The new service, available throughout most of the U.S. Monday, comes with service-level agreements that guarantee on-network Ethernet access 100% of the time and off-network Ethernet access 99.99% of the time. The agreements include a two hour mean time for repair of on-net Ethernet access. E-VPLS also allows customers to maintain control of their routing, instead of sharing it with Verizon. E-VPLS will allow customers to set priorities for applications through four classes of service: real time, priority, business and basic data. The service, which includes bandwidth ranging from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps, will cost about $48,000 a month for a typical Fortune 100 customer using E-VPLS to connect six sites spread across the U.S.