'Net gets ATM lift
WorldCom hopes to ease Internet
congetst with third major MAE.
By Denise Pappalardo and
Sandra Gittlen
Network World, 1/26/98
Washington,
D.C.
-
An
overburdened
Internet
will
get
some
welcome
relief
at
this
week's
ComNet
'98
show when WorldCom, Inc. announces
it is building a third major Metropolitan
Area Exchange (MAE).
MAE-Central, which MAE proprietor WorldCom is building in
Dallas, will help ensure that Internet traffic passes from one
Internet service provider to an-other safely and with some
measure of speed. WorldCom inherited oversight of the MAEs
when it acquired MFS Communications Co. more than one year
ago.
This Tier 1 MAE will be WorldCom's first exchange based solely
on Cisco Systems, Inc.'s StrataCom BPX ATM switches.
WorldCom is buying 16 BPX switches for its three MAEs.
WorldCom's other two Tier 1 MAEs, MAE-East and
MAE-West, primarily use Digital Equipment Corp.'s FDDI
GIGAswitches. But FDDI, by most ISP standards, has fallen short
on offering adequate access by most ISP standards.
n fact, WorldCom spent $5 million last year to upgrade its MAEs
with additional switches, and intends to spend $5 million more this
year (NW, Nov. 10, 1997, page 12). WorldCom will buy 16 BPX
switches that will be used in its three MAEs.
[I identified this opportunity in a post last year. Can the sales force explain why ASND didn't secure this contract ? Please read
nwfusion.com] |
