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Sun Microsystems, American Internet Corp. Help Cable Operators Quickly Provision Internet-Over-Cable Customers
Business Wire - December 10, 1997 13:21
%SUN-MICROSYSTEMS SUNW %CALIFORNIA %MASSACHUSETTS %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS %COMED %TELECOMMUNICATIONS %INTERACTIVE %MULTIMEDIA %INTERNET %PRODUCT %TRADESHOW V%BW P%BW
ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 1997--
New Network Application Gets Broadband Internet Users On-Line
More Rapidly -- And at Lower Cost
At the Western Cable Show here, Sun Microsystems, Inc. and American Internet Corp. said they are offering a solution to one of the most pressing challenges confronting cable systems operators: how to quickly provision customers and manage their network infrastructures to accommodate the surging demand for high-speed Internet access over broadband networks. (American Internet Corp. is at exhibit 4464 at Western Cable.)
American Internet Corp. recently became a Sun Catalyst(SM) member and has worked with Sun Professional Services, Sun's consulting and professional services division, to pursue specific business opportunities.
By deploying American Internet's Network Registrar application running on the Sun(TM) Enterprise(TM) server family, cable operators are able to automate much of the configuration and provisioning requirements to activate broadband Internet services to new customers, cutting costs while speeding activation times. At the same time, Network Registrar automates the administration of IP names and addresses, providing much more flexible network management capabilities while again lowering costs.
Because Network Registrar runs on Sun's entire line of SPARC(TM) Solaris(TM) powered Enterprise servers, it provides the scalability, network-readiness and reliability necessary to allow service providers -- including cable operators, telecom companies and Internet-only providers -- to roll out services in a limited fashion and then "scale up" processing power to keep pace as demand grows. In fact, the high degree of scalability of the American Internet and Sun Microsystems solution means that Network Registrar can be deployed nationwide by large service providers to serve hundreds of thousands of broadband customers.
More than 20 service providers around the world are already using Network Registrar running on the Sun platform to facilitate their Internet services, including MediaOne, the third-largest cable television provider in the U.S.
"The benefits of broadband Internet access -- rich graphics, streaming video, ultra-fast response -- are so strong that once people see it, they usually want it, and right away," said Kelvin Rowlette, director of market development and alliances, worldwide telecommunications and cable industry, Sun Microsystems Inc. "Sun and American Internet are enabling cable operators to meet this customer demand quickly by automating service provisioning and getting people online faster -- and at lower cost."
"Sun is an ideal platform for Network Registrar because it has the flexibility to support any number of customers, with the reliability to assure that the network will stay up," said Tom Axbey, vice president of marketing for American Internet Corp., Bedford, Mass. "Together, our companies are delivering an end-to-end solution for faster broadband Internet deployments and an increased level and quality of service for subscribers."
MediaOne
One of the first users of the Sun Microsystems and American Internet solution is MediaOne, which serves 5.1 million customers in 19 states. The company recently began offering MediaOne Express, a high-speed Internet access via coaxial cable that lets consumers and businesses access the Web at speeds 50 times faster than standard telephone lines. MediaOne chose Network Registrar because it offered the flexibility and scalability to support a seamless national service with thousands of users.
"Working with American Internet and Sun Microsystems allows us to deliver to customers the broadband service they expect, while enabling us to develop and deploy a flexible network architecture so that we can continually tune the network to meet increased customer demand," said Robert Bowles, director of high-speed data operations at MediaOne.
Network Registrar not only enables automated service activation, which lowers costs and lets new customers be brought online more quickly; the system also cuts network management costs by automating administration of the IP (Internet Protocol) name and address space. Network Registrar also lets system operators add new services such as Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and bandwidth-on-demand to their broadband networks.
American Internet Corp. also offers Access Registrar, a companion application primarily designed for dial-up networks such as modem-over-phone Internet access.
Based in Bedford, American Internet Corp. develops, markets and supports software solutions that automate the subscriber lifecycle in service provider networks. The company's products, Network Registrar and Access Registrar, were designed specifically for highly dynamic environments where users are constantly on the move, to eliminate entire classes of network administration. The company sells its products to enterprises, ISP's and telecommunications companies. Visit American Internet on the World Wide Web www.american.com, info@american.com or 1-800-425-1112.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer(TM)," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ:SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software, and services for establishing enterprise-wide Intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $8.5 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at sun.com .
Note to Editors: Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, Sun Enterprise, Solaris and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Catalyst is a service mark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
CONTACT: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Debra Woods, 650/786-5214
debra.woods@sun.com
or
Burson-Marsteller for Sun
Ted DuPont, 212/614-4562
ted_dupont@bm.com
or
American Internet Corp.
Tom Axbey, 781/276-4500
toma@american.com
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