Carriers Make Frame Relay Push: MCI WorldCom, GTE add security; Equant adds voice

While the definition of virtual private networks continues to be debated, several network operators used last week's Networld+Interop show in Atlanta to unveil VPN-type packet network services that will offer efficiencies to corporate users.

MCI WorldCom announced a new service that links corporate frame relay networks with the Internet, giving users the ability to create VPN-based intranets and extranets. At the center of the Frame Relay Internet Gateway service are six secured gateways that MCI will deploy across its U.S. network.

Corporate users "have always been struggling with a way to combine the Internet with their [Internet protocol] networks," said John Scarborough, director of product marketing for internetMCI service. "We've had [permanent virtual circuit] access into the network, but it was never really adopted because of concerns about security."

With the new service, MCI is targeting extranets, secured access to international locations and secured access to domestic users in remote locations.

Eventually MCI could carry voice traffic over the same service. However, the initial thrust will be data, said Robert Smith, senior marketing manager for MCI.

Meanwhile, MCI WorldCom's UUNet unit launched ATM T-3 service. The product leverages MCI WorldCom's ATM network to provide access to UUNet's Internet backbone at 3 to 15 Mb/s. To support the service, the two networks have been interconnected at OC-3 (155 Mb/s) rates at 10 points nationwide, said Ralph Montfort, director of product marketing for UUNet.

Similar to MCI's domestic VPN plan, PSINet announced Frame Connect service, which will provide cost-effective, full-time connectivity for VPN customers that are not located near a major point of presence (POP).

"It uses the existing telco for the last mile," said Bret C. Dennis, product manager for PSINet. Customers will connect through what PSINet calls a "leaf POP," a router-based POP used mainly for dial-up access, he said.

BellSouth will be PSINet's first telco supplier for Frame Connect.

One carrier that has begun to use frame relay to handle voice is Equant Network Services. Equant's new iVAD offering targets existing customers who use the global service provider to connect multiple locations.

In a typical application, customers replace their Cisco Systems 2500 router with a Cisco 3810 model, which supports packet voice. Customers can expect their voice costs to drop by about a third, depending on the countries involved, said Equant President Bruce J. Berenson. Customers that had begun to install their own packet voice equipment will prefer to let Equant manage their service, he added.

GTE also jumped on the frame relay brigade last week, announcing a new network management service that lets corporate users offload monitoring functions to the telco. FrameWatch service, which was implemented using software from Visual Networks, gives users a check against service level agreements using up to 70 measurement parameters and can monitor frame relay networks that cross carrier boundaries. GTE's function outside its own network will be to notify other carriers and begin the trouble escalation process, said Tom Roche, group marketing manager for GTE's LAN/WAN and video solutions group.