AAPT upgrades network for automation
AAPT has chosen Ciena to upgrade its national network so it can better provide carrier Ethernet services.
The upgrade, which AAPT CEO David Yuile said was a multimillion-dollar undertaking and involves the installation of aggregation switches in hundreds of buildings, would simplify the network, taking costs out and allowing the telco to meet strict service level agreements.
The new kit will build on AAPT's existing IP/MPLS core network, on which the carrier completed an upgrade in 2009 with Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco.
Yuile said that there was "massive uptake" for gigabit Ethernet, and has now transferred to uptake for 10-gigabit Ethernet, which the upgraded network will easily be able to provide. He said that it had been possible to provide it before, but with difficulty. The upgrade was about moving from a Layer 3 to Layer 2 infrastructure and provisioning services in an automated fashion.
The demand for the higher capacity connections is coming from datacentres and the cloud, he said, adding that he believes the upgrade would ready the company for the National Broadband Network world.
Ciena, which has been carrying out testing for the last nine months or so, will be deploying its 5410 and 5150 Service Aggregation Switches. AAPT has already received the first delivery of switches in preparation for the upgrade to begin. Yuile believes that the initial section of the work could be completed by the end of next year.
AAPT has had a long relationship with Nortel, which has now continued with Ciena since it bought Nortel's optical networking and carrier Ethernet businesses. This is the first deal Ciena has signed with AAPT as itself.
ZDNet Australia also asked Yuile about iiNet's acquisition of TransACT, and whether it puts AAPT back onto the market for its business customers.
Yuile said, however, that he wasn't looking to get rid of any customers at the moment and that he didn't think AAPT would be what iiNet was looking for in any case, with TransACT being a different kettle of fish than AAPT.
In October, Southern Cross Cables upgraded its network with Ciena kit.