[LINK] NBN layer 3 services

[David Lochrin]

On Friday 11 December 2009 14:57, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> Any Linker opinions?
> 
> NBN Co down the wrong path: Cisco 
> [...] 
> Mr Bloch's criticism centred on the NBN Co's choice, revealed early 
> yesterday, to build the network around a standard G-PON (Gigabit-capable 
> Passive Optical Network), which lack technical smarts for routing data 
> called "layer 3" services.

He wouldn't be worried that Cisco are losing the opportunity to impose a massive MPLS network on every NBN user would he?

A G-PON seems like a wise choice because at least the basic network is ~simple~ and therefore reliable.  The deeper the common end-user protocol stack which is layered upon it the more complex it becomes, with potentially greater risks for massive stuffups, not to mention the technology lockin to Cisco.

It's still far cheaper for Optus et al to build their own layer-3 networks on the NBN than to compete using infrastructure owned by Telstra, and there's the additional advantage of diversity.

Last time I looked, admittedly some years ago, MPLS was still a Cisco proprietary mystery which seemed to consist of a number of familiar protocols integrated together in some unstated fashion.  How it behaved during transient fault conditions was not obvious, at least to me.

David