Bell Canada announced a DSL contract with Alcatel eons ago. Don't know the status now.
This news just came out, proving once again the need for more power on the backbone. Note the major carriers had the best stats and the independents the worst. Hmmmmm. . . wonder whose gear is running those ISPs????
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December 22, 1998 12:35
Online Holiday Shopping and Winter Weather Combine to Boost Internet Call Failure Rates in November, Inverse Report Finds
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 22, 1998--Increased holiday shopping and seasonal cold weather conspired to make getting online harder in November than at any time during the past six months, according to the latest report from Inverse Network Technology.
The November Inverse Report found that average call failure rates for major Internet service providers (ISPs) jumped in November, coming in higher than they have since April. The biggest month-to-month rise occurred during the evening-hour (6 p.m. to midnight) period when consumers are most active on the 'Net: the percentage of failed call attempts rose nearly two percent, from 6.8 percent in October to 8.6 percent in November. (The evening-hour high for the year thus far was 10.9 percent in February; the low was 4.9 percent in August.)
However, the industry still performed nearly 20 percent better in evening-hour call failure rate than last year, when the November CFR was 10.5 percent.
Call failure rate measures the likelihood of a user's failing to connect to his ISP on the first try, because of factors such as busy signals, unanswered calls, failed logins and modem problems.
Online Shopping Goes Mass-Market
"This is the time of year when the number of dial-in access attempts normally shows an upswing due in part to climate changes -- people are simply staying indoors more," said Mike Watters, Inverse president and CEO. "But while the cold-weather factor alone might have been offset by steady infrastructure investments the ISP industry has been making to improve its reliability record, this is the first year we've seen online shopping become a serious mass-market trend. This is causing a long 'blip' in the Internet access curve similar to the shorter 'blips' that resulted from isolated events such as the release of the Starr Report and the Clinton Grand Jury video."
AT&T WorldNet Excels for Third Month in a Row
November's least grumpy online shoppers probably were those who dialed in through either AT&T WorldNet Service, which had an evening-hour CFR of 1.6 percent, or Southwestern Bell Internet Services, with 1.8 percent. Six other ISPs -- Cable & Wireless Internet, Pacific Bell Internet, IBM Global Network, Sprint Business, BellSouth.net and Bell Atlantic.net -- had rates of less than three percent. At the other end of the spectrum, Inverse found seven ISPs with evening-hour CFRs exceeding 10 percent, with the worst performer failing to complete 17.5 of every 100 calls. (Inverse identifies by name only those ISPs with CFRs at or below the industry average.)
Only three ISPs -- AT&T WorldNet Service, Bell Atlantic.net and Pacific Bell Internet -- earned Inverse's highest A+ grade in November for all three call failure rate periods measured: evening-hour, business-hour (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and 24-hour. Of this group, Bell Atlantic.net achieved the month's best business-hour CFR, 0.9 percent. AT&T had the further distinction of being alone in earning A+ marks in all three CFR periods for three consecutive months.
Testing Methodology
The data in this report were compiled for Inverse's Internet Measurement Service, a benchmark service operating since June 1996 that measures ISP results in 42 metropolitan regions selected to represent a majority of the U.S. Internet community. Inverse's testing methodology is designed to simulate the actual end-user Internet access experience. Measurements are taken 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for a two-week period each month. Tests are conducted on approximately 1,000 POPs (points of presence) per month using consumer PCs running Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and a 33.6-Kbps modem. Each ISP is tested against 20 web sites. Industry averages are based on measurements of 13 popular national ISPs.
Inverse Network Technology is the leading provider of software solutions and measurement services that allow service providers and their business customers to measure service quality for applications such as remote access outsourcing, virtual private networks (VPNs) and electronic commerce. Inverse helps ISPs and corporations enhance performance and reliability and improve customer satisfaction of their web sites and remote access networks.
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