New products move FRAD to CO

A new frame relay access device announced at Networld+Interop could help carriers reduce the cost of providing frame relay service.

The CO-XFrad, scheduled to be introduced in the second quarter by Frame Relay Technologies Inc., was touted as "the first central office switching FRAD" by Jim Fuhrman, the company's chief scientist.

"This is a multipurpose, multiport, multifunction, multiprotocol frame relay access switch," he said. "It's designed to be situated between the carrier backbone and other networks and to provide frame relay service over them regardless of whether they're based on X.25, SNA, frame relay or any other protocol."

The use of the CO-XFrad would eliminate the need for FRADs to be installed at the customer premises, allowing carriers to offer FRAD services more easily. "Carriers won't have to worry about upgrading customers' facilities," Fuhrman said. "This will change the price structure of frame relay." Primary rate ISDN and channelized T-1/E-1 interfaces are scheduled to be added to the CO-XFrad line in the third quarter, and Frame Relay Technologies plans to add

DS-3 frame relay and an asynchronous transfer mode/OC-3 interface in the fourth quarter.