Lucent shines Sun on carriers

A new offering from Lucent Technologies and Sun Microsystems will allow carriers to add and deploy value-added services more quickly and speed billing processes.

Lucent is integrating Sun's Netra t 1120 telecommunications server into its 5ESS AnyMedia Switch. The integrated Sun system adds computing power for non-call-processing functions. Instead of waiting 12 to 18 months for Lucent to release a huge software upgrade containing multiple new services, carriers can download new services when they need them. The integrated AnyMedia switches have the power to handle these updates.

"It's a competitive [differentiation point for carriers] to get to the marketplace with a new application and a value-added service," said Neil Knox, general manager and vice president of Sun Network Systems.

Sun's system includes an Ethernet interface so the carrier can use its own network to retrieve or deploy a software update. That means downloads will take minutes, not hours, said Dilish Adhikari, manager of software marketing at Lucent. This rapid software delivery applies to relatively minor software updates such as caller ID with call waiting.

"Some features [such as local number portability] require a lot of database changes. For those, you have to wait until we deliver a new version of the software," Adhikari said.

The Ethernet link also enables billing information to be transferred from the switch to the internal billing system in real time. This capability allows carriers to analyze usage and devise pricing structures for new data services, said Tom Nolle, president of CIMI Corp.

Competitive local exchange carrier Electric Lightwave will build what it claims will be the largest Sonet network in the western U.S. Two rings will connect Portland, Ore., to Los Angeles. The company plans to complete the 3000-mile network by the fall of 1999.

Frontier Communications will provide long-distance to two non-facilities-based CLECs, Access One and Essex Communications. Access One operates in BellSouth's territory, Essex in Bell Atlantic's territory. Essex is 100%-owned and Access One is 30%-owned by Sirco International Corp.

US LEC Corp. has signed an interconnection agreement with Concord Telephone Co., the Independent telco serving parts of North Carolina. The agreement fills in gaps in US LEC's southeastern serving region.