GTE puts its money'where its mouth is
GTE Internetworking is offering users
stronger SLAs to back up its network
expansion.
By Denise Pappalardo
Network World Fusion, 4/29/98
nwfusion.com
Cambridge, Mass. - If you're looking for
guaranteed network performance with minimum
packet loss, GTE Internetworking's new
service-level agreement (SLA) might put your
mind at ease.
GTE Internetworking's SLA promises that its
Internet Advantage, dedicated Internet access
customers will get the first minimum packet loss
guarantee from an Internet service provider.
GTE Internetworking is one of the first national ISPs to add a minimum
packet loss guarantee to its standard dedicated Internet access service
offering, said Rebecca Wetzel, director of Internet services at
TeleChoice, Inc., a Verona, N.J.-based consulting firm.
If Internet Advantage customers experience more than 10% packet loss
during any 10-minute interval, they will be credited with one day of
service, said Richard Kane, service line manager for Internet Advantage
at GTE. This guarantee, like most from the ISPs, does not extend
beyond GTE Internetworking's backbone.
Internet Advantage customers are typically accessing GTE
Internetworking's network using either a dedicated leased line or a frame
relay connection. Access speeds range from 56K bit/sec to 45M bit/sec.
GTE Internetworking also refined its network availability guarantee. The
ISP's previous SLA stated that if a user could not reach any destination
on GTE Internetworking's network for 15 minutes or longer they would
be credited. GTE has now made it 10 minutes or longer.
"Users can do a trace router to identify the path their traffic is trying to
traverse over our network and that will give them information about
packet loss or delays," Kane said. "If a customer reports trouble to us
we will then look at that part of our network for one hour before the
reported trouble and one hour after."
GTE Internetworking gathers and stores its network performance
statistics information on a central database using tools developed
in-house.
The one key drawback to the SLA is the lack of any Web-based
monitoring tools for customers. But users can simply ping a router on
GTE's network and report trouble to the ISP, Kane said.
GTE Internetworking has been monitoring packet loss on its network for
the past year and a half using its homegrown network monitoring tools,
Kane said.
GTE Internetworking's packet loss guarantee is a good initial first step,
Wetzel said. But users are probably going to want a stronger minimum
packet loss SLA that is below 10%, Kane said. But it's a starting point,
she said.
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