In 2012, the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) defined a new Ethernet Service Type, called Ethernet Access, or E-Access, to be added to the three defined service types: E-LINE, E-TREE and E-LAN. This service type is typically offered by two service providers with adjacent territories, or by a wholesale Ethernet access provider to service providers who have customers beyond the coverage area of their network, thus requiring them to extend their service reach beyond the network coverage area.
Any Ethernet service that is based on an Operator Virtual Connection (OVC) that associates at least one OVC End Point at a UNI (“e” or “f” in the figure below), and at least one OVC End Point at an E-NNI (“b” or “c” in the figure below), is designated as an Ethernet Access (E-Access) Service type.
E-Access can be used in a number of ways – to connect to the Internet and provide centralized high-speed Internet access; to connect to Virtual Private Networks (VPN) in order to provide connectivity to one customer/company in multiple locations or branches, and to connect a cloud customer that requires a dedicated Ethernet UNI for a WAN connection from their location to the cloud provider’s datacenter.
In all cases, E-Access gives the service provider higher throughput with lower cost per Mb than extending its own network.
Currently, E-Access specifies two types of Ethernet services:
- Access Ethernet Private Line Service (Access EPL) – uses a point-to-point OVC between the UNI and ENNI and allows frames at the UNI to be delivered unchanged to the ENNI, with the addition of an S-VLAN tag or MPLS header. In this service, all untagged, and any CE-VLAN tagged frames are mapped to one OVC at the UNI.
- Access Ethernet Virtual Private Line (Access EVPL) – uses a point-to-point OVC between the UNI and ENNI, similar to Access EPL, however, with the support of multiple service instances, including a mix of Access and EVC services.
The service provider and access provider need to coordinate the value of the S-VLAN ID or MPLS label at the ENNI and other related service attributes.
E-Access is included in the new MEF CE 2.0 certification program. Telco Systems was one of the first companies that successfully passed all eight types of MEF services, including Access EPL and Access-EVPL.