SprintLink High-Speed Internet Access

Building a Superior Environment for Business to do Commerce on the Internet

SprintLink high-speed Internet access is a natural extension to SprintLink services, providing businesses, universities, research organizations and Internet service providers the additional dedicated bandwidth they will need to continue conducting their activities on the Internet. With the addition of three turnkey solutions at 6, 12 and 45 megabits per second, Sprint now offers these organizations a smooth migration path to higher bandwidth Internet access beyond today's traditional T1 link, and the most complete and comprehensive Internet connectivity in the marketplace.

The Internet is a huge, hierarchical structure of interconnected networks offering its users a variety of client-server-based services. From electronic mail and file transfers to sophisticated world wide web applications, the communications services made possible by the Internet are quickly becoming an essential component of business, education and government activities. Sprint is the leading Internet backbone provider in the United States. The new high-speed Internet access services further Sprint's reputation as the most experienced provider of Internet backbone services with the most richly connected network. According to analysts at International Data Corp. (IDC), a market research organization, the total dedicated Internet access market is expected to grow from $180 million in 1995 to $615 million in 1997.

SprintLink was the first wide-area network service offering transmission control protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networking, support for TCP/IP applications -- World Wide Web, telnet, file transfer protocol (ftp) and simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), for example -- and access to the Internet. Today, SprintLink carries more than half the world Internet traffic in and out of the U.S., and offers the optimal path to any location on the global Internet through dedicated access from more than 300 points of presence across the U.S.

The Need for Greater Bandwidth

According to IDC, the Internet is expected to be supporting more than 200 million end users by the year 2000. Not only will the number of network users increase, but each user will be making greater use of the network. More email will be routed over the Internet, and these messages increasingly will carry with them large data files such as spreadsheets, word processing documents, graphics and even audio and video clips. New, high-bandwidth applications are appearing on the world wide web, including imaging, real-time audio and video streams, and pioneering telephony and videoconferencing applications are already creating greater demands for higher speed Internet access on both the client and server side.

As part of the U.S. national Internet backbone -- the highest level of the Internet's infrastructure -- SprintLink will need to provide large corporations, universities and research groups and regional Internet service providers with the high-bandwidth, wide-area connectivity this growth will demand. SprintLink high-speed dedicated access addresses this need.

Three High-Speed Offerings

SprintLink already provides ubiquitous dedicated access to the Internet at speeds up to 1.5 megabits per second (T1). Now, SprintLink goes beyond this to provide three new high-speed services for dedicated Internet access at 6, 12 and 45 (DS3) megabits per second to meet the needs for greater bandwidth.

6 Megabit/Second Access: Four individual T1 links are aggregated using a pair of Digital Link DL3800 4-port inverse multiplexers to connect the customer site to a SprintLink node site via the local exchange carrier's central office and the nearest Sprint point of presence (POP). At the customer site, a V.35 interface connects the DL3800 to a Cisco 4500 router, or compatible equipment, on the local network. The aggregate bandwidth offers the functionality of a 6-megabit-per-second, full-duplex link to the SprintLink network.

12 Megabit/Second Access: Eight individual T1 links are aggregated using a pair of Digital Link DL3800 8-port inverse multiplexers to connect the customer site to a SprintLink node site via the local exchange carrier's central office and the nearest Sprint point of presence. At the customer site, a high-speed serial interface (HSSI) connects the DL3800 to a Cisco 7010 router, or compatible equipment, on the local network. The aggregate bandwidth offers the functionality of an 12-megabit-per-second, full-duplex link to the SprintLink network.

45 Megabit/Second Access: A single, unchannelized DS3 connects the customer site to a SprintLink node site via the local exchange carrier's central office and the nearest Sprint point of presence using a pair of Kentrox DataSMART intelligent data service units (IDSUs). At the customer site, a high-speed serial interface (HSSI) connects the Kentrox IDSU to a Cisco 7010 router, or compatible equipment, on the local network. The DS3 service offers a 45-megabit-per-second, full-duplex link to the SprintLink network.

Unlike some service providers that offer Internet access through 10 megabit/second Ethernet links or metropolitan-area networks (MANs), Sprint's high-speed access services all offer full-duplex, dedicated bandwidth. While a dedicated Ethernet link can provide 10-megabit/second peak bandwidth, Ethernet connections typically support multiple users, resulting in an average sustainable bandwidth of only 1 to 3 megabits/second due to contention. Thus, Sprint's 6 megabit/second service provides two to three times the sustainable bandwidth of the typical Ethernet access link. A similar bandwidth contention problem exists when the total MAN bandwidth is divided among all those trying to access the network.

Turnkey Solutions

Like its other SprintLink dedicated access services, Sprint offers each of its high-speed dedicated access services as a complete, turnkey access solution. Sprint will install, set up, manage and maintain the customer premises router and transport equipment, order local transport service between the customer site and the Sprint POP and coordinate provisioning. Customers can purchase the router and transport equipment or choose among one-, two- or three-year leasing options.

Anticipating the extra bandwidth demand these new access services will place on the existing SprintLink network, Sprint is undertaking a major network expansion and equipment upgrade:

Other SprintLink service improvements are anticipated as well through upgrading of internal SprintLink operation and management systems.

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