Sprint Network Technology

Leading the Way to Better Business Solutions

Twenty years ago, a business' communications concerns went little beyond installing a telephone system and perhaps linking branch office terminals to the mainframe. There was only one phone company, and one computer company dominated the industry. A lot has changed since then.

The personal computer, new communications technologies and a dramatically different business environment have revolutionized the way business does business. Information, and the easy, rapid access to that information, is a critical, strategic component of virtually every organization's infrastructure. At the same time, organizations are decentralizing their operations and information systems across hundreds or thousands of miles. As a result, information technology in the form of client/server computing, electronic commerce, multimedia applications including videoconferencing and collaborative computing, electronic mail and the Internet are quickly becoming standard operating procedure for many businesses.

This changing business landscape is placing tremendous demands on communications service providers, who must have the vision to anticipate businesses' changing needs and develop tomorrow's communications products and services.

Today, sophisticated telephony, data and video services from Sprint, made possible through Sprint's pioneering efforts in implementing advanced network technology, are enabling businesses to realize unprecedented productivity gains and allowing them to be more competitive through the use of information technology.

Sprint's Evolving Network

Sprint's fiber-optic network has been the springboard for consistently offering businesses the most advanced communications products and services available from any long-distance carrier. From private line and switched services to the latest digital data and video services, Sprint's fiber-optic network lets businesses be more productive and competitive through the appropriate use of technology.

In the mid-1980s, Sprint set out to design and construct the most advanced communications network in the world. Sprint wanted to build a flexible, dependable network infraastructure that could evolve over time to support the products and services required to meet the changing needs of business well into the next century.

Starting with fiber-optic cabling and all-digital switching, Sprint's strategy was to build the network right the first time, and continue to enhance it with transmission and switching technologies as they become available. As a result, Sprint has been first to offer many of the most advanced business communication solutions to make businesses more productive while maintaining the highest levels of network reliability and availability.

Four underlying network technologies -- invisible to most network users -- stand out for the crucial role they play in enabling Sprint to build and maintain the most robust communications network in the industry: fiber optics, Signaling System 7 (SS7), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and synchronous optical network technology (SONET). Time and time again, Sprint has demonstrated its unique ability to plan correctly for the future, apply the appropriate leading-edge network technologies to achieve its goals and, in the process, set the standards for the rest of the industry.

Fiber Optics

Sprint's fully digital, fiber-optic network was designed literally from the ground up to deliver the most error-free transmission in the industry for voice, data and video transmission. Sprint designed its network over a decade ago, and in [19____], Sprint became the first major long-distance carrier to deploy an all fiber-optic backbone network in the United States. To date, Sprint has put more than 25,000 miles of fiber optic cabling in the ground.

Fiber-optic technology virtually eliminates noise, hiss, electrical interference, weather impact and fading, providing Sprint's renowned "pin-drop" clarity for voice services. Fiber's virtually unlimited bandwidth lets Sprint increase the traffic-carrying capacity of its network as needed to accommodate growth and provide business with higher bandwidth services like ATM. Optical fiber is also the most secure transmission media available today, meeting National Security Emergency Preparedness standards and supporting even more sophisticated forms of data encryption.

Signaling System 7

SS7 puts intelligence into the network, enabling network switches to communicate information about a call and opening the door to an expanded array of advanced communication services businesses can use to work more efficiently. From caller ID and 800 numbers, to sophisticated call center applications, the services made possible by SS7 enhance business productivity Sprint was the first long-distance carrier to implement SS7 nationwide in [19____] and the first to connect with a local exchange carrier in [19____]. SS7 uses information stored in a database to determine how a call is routed, who should receive it and who should be billed for it, as well as many other customizable instructions.

ATM

ATM is the only technology today that can integrate voice, data and video over one network. In [19____] Sprint became the first carrier to offer commercial ATM service to businesses nationwide. Sprint also uses ATM within its backbone network as a common platform for all of its diverse communications services -- X.25, TCP/IP (internet protocol support), frame relay and ATM, as well as private line and switched services. Using Sprint's network, businesses can choose the technology that best supports their applications on a location-by-location basis while maintaining seamless connectivity between locations. Sprint's network technology lets businesses easily migrate their applications to different services as their needs change.

SONET

The latest enhancement to Sprint's network, SONET is the biggest achievement in reliability and customer service since fiber optics came into general use over the past ten years. Sprint was the first carrier to begin nationwide SONET deployment in [19____], and in 1995 activated the industry's first coast-to-coast connection of overlapping SONET fiber-optic rings. When all 44 planned rings are installed by [_______________, 19____], Sprint will be the only carrier to deliver SONET technology to every customer over its entire network.

With Sprint's more advanced SONET architecture -- employing self-healing, bidirectional, line-switched rings -- the backup is built-in. Sprint's SONET technology guarantees fewer network outages with faster service restoral, virtually eliminating the risk of downtime for businesses that depend on long-distance communications for mission-critical applications. It also avoids the extra cost businesses traditionally incur for network backup contingencies and offers improved network maintenance capabilities. SONET's extremely high transmission speeds -- 2.5 billion bits per second today, to four times that in the near future -- make practical the coming generation of bandwidth-intensive business applications such as product modeling and collaborative engineering, medical imaging, interactive presentations, on-line video libraries and other multimedia-based services.

Beyond the Backbone: Sophisticated Data Services

While most businesses are familiar with Sprint's fiber-optic network is through its voice services, many corporate communications managers also know Sprint as a leader in data services, including multimedia and video services. In addition to Sprint's Clearline private-line services and switched data services (ISDN, Switched 56, SMDS), Sprint offers a full range of packet data and video services to meet businesses' varied communication requirements.

SprintNet X.25

With nearly two decades of experience, SprintNet was the first global public data network to offer dedicated access at speeds up to 256 Kbps, enabling even high-throughput applications like file transfers to benefit from the reliability of X.25 packet switching. Today, SprintNet is one of the world's largest public data networks, transmitting business-critical information more than three million times a day for the world's leading corporations, government agencies and information providers. These users rely on SprintNet's dynamic alternate routing, built-in redundancy and back-up services to ensure network availability.

SprintLink TCP/IP

In [19____], Sprint became the first long-distance carrier to offer wide-area network service handling TCP/IP networking, Internet access and support for TCP/IP applications. Today, Sprint is the most richly connected Internet service provider, carrying more than half of the total Internet traffic passing into and out of the U.S. and offering the optimal path to any Internet location.

Frame Relay

Sprint's global frame relay service helps communications managers meet the challenges of designing and supporting cost-effective, high-speed, multiprotocol networks. Sprint's frame relay solutions let businesses consolidate their dedicated private-line data networks reliably, combining their mission-critical SNA-based applications with LAN and other data traffic.

ATM

Sprint's ATM service enables organizations to combine mutliple network protocols as well as time-critical data like video traffic into a single, integrated network, while providing significantly higher speeds than frame relay. Sprint became the first carrier to offer nationwide commercial ATM service in [19____]. A range of network access methods and bandwidth options -- from fractional T1 and T1, to SONET OC-3 (155 megabits per second) and ATM -- as well as interworking with frame relay and SprintLink services give businesses the greatest flexibility in bringing all their locations on-line in the most cost-effective manner.

Video and Multimedia

Sprint Video is a single source for a comprehensive array of videoconferencing products and services, including network options, video equipment and project management. Switched data customers can take advantage of Sprint's integrated videoconferencing solution and package of value-added services, including a video applications help desk, multipoint conferencing, format and speed conversions and connections to other carrier networks. Two dedicated private networks offer either on-demand videoconferencing or reservations-based services. Sprint also provides all the services necessary to plan, install and maintain desktop videoconferencing and collaborative applications.

Leveraging SprintLink, Sprint's wide-area network multimedia service, DRUMS, eliminates the barriers of time and distance for the entertainment and multimedia industries, allowing near-real-time desktop-to-desktop communication and access to on-line resources for the creation of films, commercials, television programs and other multimedia projects. Soon, work group collaboration supported by videoconferencing and electronic "white-boards" will be offered, as well as Internet access, on-line advertising and order processing and a number of other productivity-enhancing services.

Continuing the Network Evolution

Now, ten years later, Sprint is introducing technology worldwide that is just as significant as its original all-digital, fiber-optic network -- a broadband network with unsurpassed intelligence and reliability built-in. Sprint's broadband Distributed Intelligent Network Architecture (DINA) will accommodate information-intensive multimedia applications that require higher speeds, more dynamic switching and greater intelligence. DINA will expand Sprint customers' communications capabilities, enabling businesses to use a flexible, building-block approach to customize their communications solutions and change their networks quickly to outpace the competition.

Sprint VPN Premiere virtual private network service, the first Sprint service to take full advantage of the enhanced capabilities of DINA, can connect all of an organization's domestic and international locations and integrate all voice, data and video needs onto a single network. It also provides faster network design and billing management reports tailored to each organization's unique structure, domestically or worldwide. DINA also provides the enhanced services organizations rely on for inbound and outbound calling centers. Sprint's Network Call Distributor, for example, lets an organization automatically balance traffic loads across all call centers to increase call completions and ensure that calls are answered faster. Sprint 800 Call Director helps telemarketing staffs respond quickly and effectively to call-volume fluctuations and unexpected emergencies, while Sprint's Interface to an External Routing Processor provides real-time control over how, when and where each 800 call is routed.

Over the coming months, DINA will enable a whole range of new Sprint offerings to make businesses more productive and competitive. Integrated messaging services will let customers access electronic mail, voice mail, fax and data with a single personal phone number from a PC, pay phone or telephone anywhere in the world in whatever format is preferred. Sprint's telecommuting services will offer wireless access to its Intelligent Network with a single wireless device and mobile number, connecting workers to information from just about anywhere in the world. What's more, these cellular services will be integrated with traditional local and long-distance products and services, providing seamless voice and data service with consolidated billing.

The integrated voice, data and video capabilities of Sprint's Intelligent Network will provide an array of multimedia solutions, including video-on-demand library services, distance learning, distance meetings and interactive voice response for marketing and sales support programs. And as higher bandwidths become available at the local level, Sprint's broadband Intelligent Network will be ready to provide the critical transport mechanism for the "infotainment" industry, including such diverse services as video-on-demand, video jukeboxes, home shopping, home health care and interactive games.

Taking the Next STEP

To help businesses through the increasingly complex maze of network options, Sprint has developed the Sprint Technology Evolution Program (STEPSM). STEP allows organizations to simply and cost-effectively upgrade their data networks, providing a road map so they can feel confident that network transitions will occur smoothly and without financial burden.

With STEP, Sprint analyzes existing customer network design, traffic patterns and objectives, and then develops a high-level transition plan to migrate traffic from private line networks to one of its high-speed data services -- frame relay or ATM. STEP reduces traditional financial deterrents to migration by letting organizations maintain both the new and old services for a single charge during the short transition period, and by providing other financial incentives.

Sprint Business Services has consistently lead the industry in applying state-of-the-art communications technologies to real business problems. Sprint's superior network infrastructure, data leadership and expertise, coupled with STEP make it the clear leader for providing customers with the reliability, flexibility, and performance needed to deliver the next generation voice, video, data, imaging and other multimedia applications of the future.

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