A data-centric vision: Networld plus Interop vendors anticipate heightened carrier interest

What form the public network infrastructure will take as service providers prepare for a data-centric future is sure to be a hot topic at Networld plus Interop in Atlanta this week.

Lucent Technologies Chairman and CEO Richard McGinn plans to discuss major changes afoot in networking in his keynote address on Wednesday morning, and Nortel Networks CEO John Roth and President Dave House plan a similar topic for their keynote speech the same afternoon. Meanwhile, traditional data networking vendors expect to see increased interest from service providers.

Packet Engines, the data vendor that Alcatel last week announced plans to acquire (see story on page 14), has been selling a lot of its PowerRail routing switches to Internet service providers recently, said Jeff White, Packet Engines' vice president of marketing. The company hopes to increase its carrier appeal by adding OC-3 and OC-12 packet-over-Sonet capability to the PowerRail device. Packet Engines also will introduce a new module that will increase the density of the PowerRail to support 73 gigabit Ethernet ports.

Torrent Networking Technologies, another vendor popular with ISPs, will demonstrate Internet multicast video using its IP9000 Gigabit Router.

Voice over IP also will be a focus of attention. 3Com will preview a new turnkey voice-over-IP product that it says will improve scalability for large networks. Built to a three-tiered architecture of gateway, gatekeeper and back-end server, the system can run multiple voice codecs for different service levels.

Several service providers also will be making announcements at the show.

Backbone provider Icon CMT will announce a new practice aimed at servicing the Internet needs of the telecommunications industry. Qwest Communications and Cisco Systems will partner with Icon CMT to serve telecom clients.

PSINet will announce a new "in-box" capability for its Internet fax service. The service works by delivering faxes as scanned attachments to e-mail messages, a spokesman said.

Equant Network Services will unveil what it calls the first fully integrated and managed global voice and data offering. Dubbed iVad, the service will be available in 40 countries using a seamless frame relay network.

In addition, several vendors will use Networld plus Interop to showcase innovations in network management and maintenance.

Boeing and Radcom will introduce the 622 Wirespeed Protocol Analyzer for 622 Mb/s networks, which the two companies will jointly market. Field service personnel can use the new analyzer to troubleshoot loaded backbones and server connections.

Telecommunications Techniques Corp. is announcing a dynamic script generator for its Fireberd 6000 communications analyzer and the Fireberd 500 PC, a desktop software option that allows service providers to troubleshoot and analyze data from the Fireberd 500 internetwork analyzer.

Netcool/Mainframe Connection, a new suite of products from Micromuse, provides network operation centers with a real-time window into mainframe-based applications and management utilities. The Netcool ObjectServer merges filtered mainframe events with status and response-time data from IP, simple network management protocol traps, Unix syslog messages and NT events.

The Netcool/Mainframe connection supports cross-platform event correlation and presents mainframe events in service level and business process views.

Lucent Technologies and competitive local exchange carrier Allegiance Telecom agreed to a five-year contract worth more than $200 million for switching, access and communications software.

CLEC CapRock Communications Corp. purchased approximately $50 million of fiber optic cable from Fitel Lucent Technologies to build its network through the southern U.S., including Texas and New Mexico. CapRock plans to complete approximately 5500 route miles by 2000.

MGC Communications rolled out local and long-distance service in Chicago's north and northwest suburbs. MGC has 10 collocation sites and access to approximately 500,000 addressable lines. The company also provides service in Las Vegas, Atlanta and Southern California. Nextlink announced it has installed 134,107 access lines.