L2Connect

Romtelecom L2Connect provides a full range of Ethernet connectivity solutions, such as:

• Carrier L2Connect - offers carrier-grade solutions to operators looking for off-net 'B' end Ethernet services in Romania or in a Romtelecom PoP abroad for their end customers. Through Carrier L2Connect, the carriers can rapidly increase their service portfolio with extensive connectivity solutions beyond their network boundaries, by aggregating Romtelecom network services into their end customers' services. Next to the basic features, a number of supplementary features enhance the service benefits, such as CPE packages, VLAN and PDU Transparency, engineering services and more;
• Customer L2Connect - a service targeting Romtelecom customers ('A' end model) looking for global Ethernet services. Implemented over the Romtelecom MPLS network, enabled with state of the art technology and benefitting from interconnections with a key selection of global partners, L2Connect provides worldwide coverage, offering consistent features on a global basis.
• L2Connect e2e – provides a permanent and dedicated Layer 2 Ethernet connectivity, end-to-end, assuring a symmetrical bandwidth and payload transparency between two or more customer locations.

Benefits:

• Flexibility - L2Connect is specially designed to tailor various requirements, easily allowing capacity increase, adding new locations, or choosing among different levels of service management;
• Transparency - L2Connect offers the same service features all across Romtelecom's network footprint, with no manipulations of partner CoS or PDUs, enabling seamless integration with the end customer intranets;
• Reliability - the service is built on a redundant and fault tolerant backbone based on Cisco carrier class routers and provided with congestion avoidance mechanisms. The network security architecture is built on multiple layers to provide maximum protection, while network uptime is the result of the MPLS fully meshed architecture;
• Security - L2Connect offers a level of security similar to the traditional Leased Lines as packets from one Virtual LAN will not inadvertently go to a different one;
• Strong SLAs for QoS - the service is complemented with two service levels, tailored to different clients' needs: Standard and Premium with an availability goal of 100%.

A. Basic features

L2Connect provides Ethernet connectivity, with symmetrical bandwidth and payload transparency, between the NNI with the partner and the site(s) of its end customers, presenting a MPLS service interface in all the access points.

Available bandwidths:

Other bandwidths can be accommodated upon request, subject to a feasibility study.

Service topology:

1.Point-to-Point topology (EPL service type)

• L2Connect Line - implemented over the EoMPLS technology, the service provides point-to-point connectivity, with symmetrical bandwidth and payload transparency.

• Dedicated L2Connect - implemented over the SDH/ DWDM transport technology, the service ranks as a premium product with similar QoS as the traditional Leased Lines, allowing customers a smooth migration from legacy to new generation networks.

2. Point-to-Multipoint topology (EVPL service type)

• L2Connect Hub&Spoke delivers a point-to-multipoint infrastructure over Romtelecom's MPLS network (E-Line EVPL), providing multiple Ethernet Private Line (EPL) services for data transmission between a central location (such as a corporate headquarters or data processing centre) and satellite locations. The service is ideal for customers that request simultaneous access from multiple tail-end locations to the head-end site, without the need for direct connectivity among the tail-end locations.

3. Multipoint-to-Multipoint topology (E-LAN service type)

• L2Connect Any2Any delivers a Layer 2 multipoint VPN, allowing end customer's multiple sites to be connected in a single bridged domain over Romtelecom's managed IP/MPLS network, using the VPLS technology.

Quality of Service (QoS): four tiered CoSs are available when deliver L2Connect service using the EoMPLS technology, as follows:

• Real Time: real time applications, sensitive to jitter, highly interactive (e.g. VoIP, videoconference);
• Mission-Critical: business critical applications – transactional information, highly interactive, highly sensitive to delay (e.g. signaling, banking application);
• Standard: standard business applications (e.g. short transactions, SAP, ERP, Oracle, video streaming, network services requesting guaranteed bandwidth);
• Best Effort: E-mail, Intranet, Internet, other applications that can accommodate variable throughput delay.

VLAN transparency:

• for L2 Connect Line: available for end customer tagged traffic and delivered for Ethernet access technology;

• for Dedicated L2 Connect: provided over the SDH/DWDM transport technology, the customer's untagged/tagged traffic is transparently transported across Romtelecom's network, including the following customer traffic types: untagged traffic, simple tagged traffic, double tagged traffic;

• for L2Connect Hub&Spoke: different groups of end customer's VLANs span over the network between the central location and a two or more remote locations. Each group of end customer VLANs is delivered at the central location on a dedicated interface, where QinQ encapsulation applies. Separate point-to-point connections transport customer traffic between the central location and the satellite locations (EPL with VLAN transparency) for each group of end customer VLANs.

B. Supplementary features

• Back-up: different level of protection can be added upon request or as a result of high service performance parameters level requested by the end customer.

• L2TP Transparency: the L2Connect service allows the tunneling of the layer 2 PDU's, including STP, VTP, CDP. Exception: cases when the access line uses the g.SHDSL technology over copper