Florida takes a NAP: New Internet exchange brings Latin America closer to U.S.

While service providers build robust optical networks to handle escalating traffic demands, network access points can be one of many bottlenecks that plague the Internet. To help remedy problems such as congestion and data packet loss, BellSouth is developing a new NAP in southern Florida with FPL Fibernet, Intermedia, International Wire Communications and Qwest Communications. The Florida Multimedia Internet eXchange, or FloridaMIX, will be operational by the end of the year and will accommodate the growing traffic volume and BellSouth's increasing presence in Latin America.

Although several other NAPs have been in use for many years - some since the first advent of the Internet - FloridaMIX is designed to be different and more robust. While older NAPs are based solely on ATM, FloridaMIX will be based on optical switching technologies.

The NAP, which will be BellSouth's first stab at operating an exchange point, will use optical networking technologies and will be capable of speeds from DS-3 and gigabit Ethernet to OC-192. The exchange also will use dense wave division multiplexing.

"Today, NAPs are [based] on ATM, and most interfaces go to OC-12," said Susan Campbell, senior director of Internet strategy and business development for BellSouth. "The capacity to get to OC-192 just wasn't there on the ATM side."

To provide scalability and flexibility, the group opted for an optical-based NAP, which also should prevent future congestion. "The optical technologies can allow the use of bandwidth oriented to demand," Campbell said. "Additionally, NAPs were very congested, and they were having a hard time keeping up with growth."

Although BellSouth has yet to reveal its suppliers, the NAP will have an ATM core and an optical mesh network around it, said David Diaz, chairman and interim CEO of International Wire Communications. The NAP will support bandwidth on demand using "smart photon" - or what Diaz called "smoton" - optical routing techniques.

"With this design, if someone new comes in, it is a whole lot easier to peer," he said.

The NAP design will improve traffic exchange, Campbell added. "Providers such as Qwest and Level 3 with high-speed backbone networks need a better way to exchange traffic. This will provide it," she said.

Although Qwest's involvement still is in the early stage, the project "gives us another peering point, which is always great," a Qwest spokeswoman said.

But in addition to the NAP's optical basis, the location also is strategic. Currently, the NAPs closest to Latin America are in Dallas and Washington. A Florida-based NAP will alleviate cumbersome traffic routes.

"For traffic such as e-mail that might not be a problem, but when you are talking about real-time voice, that latency kills you," Diaz said. The connectivity to Latin America is one of the driving factors for BellSouth's involvement with the NAP. The current lack of an exchange point and available transport bandwidth makes it difficult for the carrier to support the growing Latin American traffic volume, Campbell said. The increasing traffic volumes will be compounded by BellSouth's plans to expand its Internet service offerings through its wireless properties in Latin America.

Technologically, Florida has lagged about two years behind regions such as the Silicon Valley, Diaz said. He predicts that will change because Florida is such a huge gateway to Latin America and because it serves as a drop point for many undersea routes.

FloridaMIX is unique because it will take advantage of the latest optical technologies. But in terms of functionality, it may not be too innovative. "At the end of the day, a NAP is a way [for providers] to send information between each other," said Jilani Zeribi, principal analyst at Current Analysis. FloridaMIX "is innovative in what the technology is based on, but does it do much for the NAP? Not really," he said. However, Zeribi said, it is hard to have too many NAPs, and none currently exist in BellSouth territory (see box).

"If you are an enormous provider like UUNet, it doesn't hurt you much if the NAP is slow," Zeribi said. "It's the smaller players that suffer in that case."

Another NAP called the T-Rex is now being developed in Florida by a group of 43 providers, headed by Cable & Wireless.