>>I think that Ascend's approach is more palatable to the carrier, while the GS12000 will be accepted by the Internet backbone providers. These 2 different plays seems to tell us that the road to convergence is not going to be a straight path.<<
simonds, these are some of the very devices I was referring to in the preceding post. Although, it's conceivable that the GSR12000 could reside as a tenant or tributary on a larger ATM device, as I see it, at the present time. That is, until it achieves the TB speeds on its own that I believe it aspires to.
Whether carriers want the ASND approach and the ISPs want the GSR's is something that is not clear cut to me. GTE didn't budge to dive into the GSR, nor did USWest, as I recall, and each has ATM b-b gear as well. I think that in striving to provision the widest range of achievable services, the larger carriers will take both approaches under their belts. QWEST, I believe, is one that fits this bill nicely, since it is using both the GSR12000 IP router and the GBX 550 ATM architecture, I believe. Correct me, someone, if I'm mistaken here, but I think that's what QWST decided to do on _separate_ backbone overlays.
There is still an awful lot of legacy IBM stuff out there that is well suited to OC-3c/12c ATM, and I don't know of a carrier that would mind having these on their trophy lists. And with check-imaging and interbank clearing systems beginning to explode (most are supported by bus&tag and ESCON connections), it's going to be extremely difficult to ignore these applications in the future, based purely on religious convictions.
Frank C.
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