th simplified, standardized equipment and centralized main- tenance. Expertise on a reduced number of software packages and types of equipment requires fewer sets of skills. This results in more efficient labor pools and permits flexible deployment of technical personnel who can fill in for one another, as required. The fast pace of technological change is a challenge to carriers. They face ques- tions about which new technologies to adopt, while at the same time facing pressure to lower prices in response to competition. This is occurring simultaneously with the loss of telephone customers to mobile services. Additionally, cable TV operators that previously only had competition from satellite TV now also compete with telephone companies that are promoting their own cable TV services, and with competitors such as Netflix and Apple that offer TV and movies streamed over the Internet. Lower profit margins and competition are factors in the reluctance to make investments in new technologies. New technologies must demonstrate clear opportunities for operational cost savings or increased revenues from new services before carriers will make any investments. One way that networks increase efficiency is in the technology used for back up service in the event of fiber cuts along transoceanic and other heavily trafficked fiber routes. In older equipment, backup gear and fiber sat idle unless there was a disaster a fiber cut. The backup equipment and fiber are also referred to as the protect services. The term "protect services" denotes the backup links on which traffic is transmitted during network outages. Using a newer technique called mesh technology, back up is accomplished by using equipment and fiber on existing routes. In addition, carri- ers are deploying Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) equipment centrally rather than older traditional switches in hundreds of locations closer to customers. Eventually, it is hoped that this will enable carriers to support a few centralized VoIP switches rather than the many loca