[c-nsp] High Density T1 aggregation device - migrating to MPLS

[Rick Martin]

 We are in the planning stages for a conversion to an MPLS infrastructure, we have about 3,000 connections on this statewide network which spans 3 major carriers territory. We expect we will wind up with one vendor at the core. Assuming vendor A wins the core we expect we will have to provide hardware to aggregate connections from vendor B and C's territory and pass those connections on to the core via Ethernet.

 Our expectation is that we will have 2 types of last mile connections to our customers - Ethernet and MPPP via T1's. Of course our preference would be Ethernet for all of the WAN links but at this time that is not possible due to the rural nature of portions of our state. We expect perhaps 50 - 100 T1's at a given aggregation point. 

 I am in need of advice on what products are available for high density aggregation of the T1's. I am currently researching Cisco products but do not want to limit my scope to Cisco only. I would welcome any suggestions or advice on this.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions
rick