ISDN-esque, Newbridge products use DSL to offer 128 kb/s without the hassle

A pair of digital subscriber line products from Newbridge Networks could provide carriers a new way to quickly meet customer demands for Internet protocol-based services by using what the company and analysts describe as the right speed for the job.

The products-the 2720 MainStreet Internet Termination Unit and the 2721 MainStreet Router Termination Unit-offer ISDN-like access from routed Ethernet networks via 128 kb/s speeds, the same rate as ISDN.

The 2720 is aimed at the small office/home office market, while the 2721 is targeted at larger corporate users. "We took a long look at ISDN and its shortcomings," said Frank Troccoli, assistant vice president of product marketing at Newbridge.

"Customers like 128 kb/s performance, but they don't like having to wait for that service to be installed by their service providers. The 2720 and the 2721 go a long way to eliminate the hassles on the carrier's side of things."

The Newbridge products will let carriers deploy 128 kb/s frame relay services over existing infrastructure. The devices offer a fixed-link alternative to dial-up/switched lines by connecting to Newbridge's 3600 MainStreet Bandwidth Manager devices in carriers' central offices, letting them offload data traffic from the switched network, Troccoli said.

"ISDN is a two-channel technology, and that ties up switch resources," he said. "This technology allows Internet traffic to bypass the switch and take the brunt of dial-up traffic. These lines can be nailed up full-time, always be available and, at the same time, never drain switch resources. That's something that both carriers and customers want.

The system also lets carriers add hardware, both at the customer premises and at the CO, as demand for services grows.

"The infrastructure of the Internet itself doesn't allow for data transfer at much faster rates," Troccoli said.

"DSL access at that rate is well-suited for today's business and educational access services market because it provides dedicated services at an optimal speed," said Tom Nolle, president of CIMI Corp., Voorhees, N.J. "Most Internet service providers are able to deliver only about 92 kb/s to the edge of the network, so frame relay access at 128 kb/s realistically serves the market."