Sometime during '98, ATT made mention of their INC offering, which is poised to counter the "advantage" [[??]] currently held by Sprint's ION, and MCIWCom's On Net. Here is Denise Pappalardo's account of INC in this week's Network World. What do you think about the offering?
Regards, Frank Coluccio
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Network World Fusion, 01/25/99
WASHINGTON, D.C. - AT&T this week will finally be able to say it has a managed service for merging voice and data traffic on the same access lines.
The carrier plans to use ComNet/DC '99 here to unveil its Integrated Network Connect (INC) offering, AT&T's answer to Sprint's much-publicized Integrated On-demand Network (ION) and MCI WorldCom's On-Net integrated access services. News of the AT&T service was first reported last Thursday on Network World Fusion.
According to sources, AT&T's ATM-based access service initially will support voice and private-line data traffic. While customers can combine such traffic on access lines today, they don't get the benefits of AT&T managing the equipment used to blend the traffic, or the consolidated billing that INC promises.
By year-end, INC should enable customers to bundle Internet and frame relay traffic onto the same access lines, sources say.
While AT&T's strength may lie in carrying traditional voice and data, CEO C. Michael Armstrong is pushing the carrier to deliver a broader set of services in sync with the IP network phenomenon.
Still, AT&T's INC is behind Sprint and MCI WorldCom offerings from a time and features perspective. The competing carriers' services are already available, and both Sprint and MCI WorldCom already allow customers' Internet traffic to ride on the same access pipes traveled by voice and LAN-to-LAN data traffic.
While INC is missing IP support out of the gate, it is a fully managed service that should let customers reduce the number of WAN connections they have to manage.
Managing fewer access lines won't necessarily save customers money, however, says Christine Heckart, vice president at TeleChoice, a Boston consulting firm. AT&T's INC, like Sprint's ION service, requires that users deploy new equipment. The cost of that gear could wipe out the savings users reap from having fewer T-1 lines, she says.
A network professional at an Ohio utility company, who asked not to be identified, figures his firm could cut its telecommunications costs by 25% using INC. But he says the big payoff would come from simplifying overall management of a hodgepodge of AT&T offerings, including frame relay, ATM and Software Defined Network voice services.
AT&T plans to roll out INC in phases. The first phase requires that users deploy an ATM multiplexer at their sites to compress voice and data traffic, and convert the traffic to ATM cells. The cells are then sent over a dedicated T-1 line to a digital cross connect in a local AT&T switching office. Voice and data traffic is then split out and sent over AT&T facilities.
It appears that AT&T may be using ATM equipment from Cisco, Nortel Networks and Lucent, but the carrier declined to comment on this or other aspects of its announcement.
AT&T is expected to start delivering INC in the second quarter, following customer trials.
It's anticipated that INC will initially be available in the more than 40 cities where AT&T has local-loop facilities. AT&T acquired its local-loop presence via its buyout last year of Teleport Communications Group.
Determining how to reach customers without dealing with incumbent local exchange carriers (LEC) has been especially troublesome for Sprint in rolling out ION. While Sprint owns an independent LEC, the carrier's presence in local markets is limited. As a result, Sprint has been forced to wheel and deal with LECs for access lines, hampering its efforts to get ION out to a lot of customers.
Sprint's offering is available in seven cities, and MCI WorldCom's On-Net service is available in 81 metropolitan areas.
Analysts say that AT&T should have the second phase of INC finished by year-end. In addition to including frame relay and Internet traffic on consolidated access lines, the company is also expected to make changes in the way it supports customers' traffic. Further details were unavailable at press time. |
