Written by: Nail Kavak

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The phenomenal success of the Internet and the universal adoption of the Internet protocol are driving profound changes in the telecommunications industry. The infrastructure of the Internet is being used as the foundation for a new public IP network. In addition to existing best-effort applications, the emerging IP networks will offer the functionality needed to support a variety of carrier-class and business-quality services, with the advantage of being ubiquitous, easier to access, and of costing less than competing alternatives.

Many service providers are expanding the capacity and geographical coverage of their networks to meet rising customer demand. With virtual private networks, they can improve asset utilization and return on investments by leasing available capacity and providing new services. IP-based virtual private networks provide a means of extending the reach and scalability of legacy frame-relay and ATM networks. End-users gain ubiquitous access to the corporate intranet or extranet for business-to-business applications, IP telephony, or multi-cast videoconferencing service. Ultimately, Internet VPNs will be the global means of business communication just as the voice network is today. The author describes various virtual private network models and the details of Ericsson’s MPLS-based IP-VPN offering.

[First published in Ericsson Review no. 03, 2000]