The top rated MPLS providers are Masergy, Expereo, Globalgig, GTT, Colt, Lumen, Cogent, Verizon and Telstra. Comparing MPLS requires comparison of network reach, latency, jitter, QoS, uptime, support, reporting and backbone capability.
1. Masergy
Masergy is a global telecom recognised for their exceptional backbone network across 85+ countries. Masergy is known for strong customer loyalty with a Net Promoter Score of 74 confirming their service offerings and retention rate. In recent years, their overall service has moved them from connectivity only providers to cloud providers which complements their networking capability across SD WAN and Managed Services with Unified Cloud Communications via fully hosted MPLS Cloud UC, Intelligent SIP trunking and Cloud Contact Centre.
2. Expereo
A recently founded service provider (2004), Expereo operate out of 8 offices globally with access to 200+ countries with their predominant service offered via Cisco edge for MPLS connectivity, Meraki, Viptela, Silver Peak and VeloCloud for SD WAN.
3. Globalgig
Perhaps a lesser-known service provider when compared to the large telcos, Globalgig are based in Austin, Texas with a number of US offices together with a presence in London & Sydney.
4. GTT
Headquartered out of McLean, Virginia and listed as a Fortune 50 company with over 3000 employees and 60 offices worldwide. A Tier 1 network offering MPLS IP VPN circuits supported by 550+ PoPs worldwide in 100+ countries.
5. Colt
Colt (City of London Telecom) provides data services to Mid-sized businesses across Europe, Asia and North America. Their core service offering revolves around managed WAN, high-speed Ethernet point to point & multipoint bandwidth services and Ethernet Internet leased lines.
6. Lumen
Lumen (previously Century Link, Level 3) is a Global telco established in 1930 and one of the top 3 US communications providers, 2nd largest colocation company across the US, Fortune 159 with $17.9 billion in revenue.
7. Cogent
Cogent is a multinational Tier 1 Internet provider ranked within the top 5 IP networks in the world. Their key products include DIA (Dedicated Internet Access), Ethernet Point-to-Point connectivity, VPLS (layer 2 MPLS IP VPN alternative) and colocation services.
8. Verizon
Verizon is a global provider with 57 world-class data centres supporting MPLS solution technology. A leader in the Gartner magic quadrant for public Cloud IaaS, Managed Hosting and Managed Security. Verizon (formally WorldCom, UUNET) is typically known for their support or large Enterprise clients. Services sold include Cloud Compute (IaaS), Cloud Backup & DR-as-a-service, storage.
9. Telstra
Telstra is a great option for China MPLS via their status as the largest joint venture VPN provider in mainland China. In addition, their network is supported by 58 Data Centres across the Globe (25 of which are in Australia) and 40 satellites globally.
10. BT Business
While BT may appear to be an obvious choice for UK business (national or Global), the company has 3000 employees and a significant international presence including North America. Networks spans over 197 countries with managed services including Meraki for MPLS.
About This Article
We’ve written this article for companies looking to understand which MPLS providers are a fit vs their requirements. While the use case for MPLS is reducing across Enterprise business, private technology remains a component of hybrid network architecture. The MPLS providers listed currently represent the best/top solutions to deliver wireless-only or fully managed WAN capability national and international requirements.
Which MPLS Features Should Your IT Team Understand Before Comparing Service Providers?
Managed MPLS Services
Deciding on managed services is perhaps one of the most contentious areas when evaluating service providers. With MPLS, this means understanding how the provider is able to make adds, moves and changes together with their NOC capability and expertise. In many ways, these elements are often not tangible meaning the in contract experience is not typically known because there are limited areas to evaluate. One of the ways to take control is to overlay SD WAN capability which transforms the capability and experience.
Backbone Network Reach
The majority of major service providers offer global capability by leveraging last mile in country connections to their local PoP. The required clarity surrounds MPLS PE (Provider Edge) reach which will help your team evaluate true global MPLS capability.
Delivery and Project Management
Assessing whether your prospective MPLS provider offers robust process across delivery is critical to ensure your project is delivered on-time and with the correct configuration.
SLA (Service Level Agreement)
Latency, jitter and uptime are all aspects of the typical MPLS SLA. Remember, most SLA agreements are commercial rather than technical and work on an average across the working month.
Connectivity Options
Hybrid WAN services are required to deliver end to end solutions for most businesses.
Masergy Global MPLS
The Masergy SLA (Service Level Agreement) supports less than 1ms jitter and 100% in-sequence data packet delivery with packet loss guarantees. Tools include Global on-demand network management for bandwidth and embedded real-time data analytics. QoS (Quality of Service) enabled Masergy circuits are ideal for Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform and IBM Bluemix cloud services.
Products
MPLS, SD WAN, Global SIP, Security.
What are the strengths of Masergy’s MPLS?
- Excellent backbone, ideal for customers with metro area connectivity requirements.
- Good agile managed services.
- Over the top Internet SLA services.
What are the weaknesses of Masergy’s MPLS?
- Often viewed as expensive, this perception is changing over time.
- Coverage outside of North America may not be good across regional areas in-country.
