• Williams Puts Money Where Its SLA Is
• Global Crossing Lives Up To Its Name
  
  

by ISP-Planet Staff [June 25, 2001]

Williams Puts Money Where Its SLA Is
The broadband-network services provider said it will offer an enhanced service level agreement (SLA) for its Dedicated Internet Access service through its high-speed OC-48 Internet protocol network, as part of its commitment to provide customers with premium Internet access.

The new SLA will guarantee average monthly round-trip latency of 55 milliseconds, one of the lowest in the industry, which allows customers to transport and download information at even faster speeds. In addition, the new SLA provides for 99.999 percent network availability with packet loss of less than 1 percent, providing customers with the reliability necessary for transport of mission-critical information, officials said.

Williams Communications' new SLA is backed by monetary guarantees that grant customers days of credit should performance levels not be met. Customers would essentially receive daily credit for applicable locations should latency exceed 55 milliseconds average or 100 milliseconds maximum round-trip, network availability fall below 99.999 percent after an initial grace period, or packet loss exceed 1 percent.

Joe Turcotte, Williams Communications senior vice president of Internet protocol services, said SLAs are paramount to the IP industry segment as businesses are increasingly conducting mission-critical business via the Internet.

"The scale and flexibility of our IP network, coupled with the reliability and speed guaranteed by our new SLA, offers customers high-speed access to the Internet at competitive prices," Turcotte quipped.

One to watch
In a recently published report by CyberAtlas Research, Navigating Risks and Opportunities in the North American Backbone Market, Patricia Fusco, ISP-Planet managing editor, cited Williams Communications as an aggressive mover in the North American marketplace.

"Not only is Williams Communications fearless about challenging perennial North American network services market leaders UUNET and Sprint, it makes no bones about putting rival all-optic backbone providers like Level 3, Broadwing and Qwest in their place," Fusco said.

"WillCom completed its network buildout nearly a year ahead of schedule, it successfully spun off from its parent firm during while several other network operators were seeking bankruptcy protection," Fusco continued. "Next, WillCom came to market with a $700 price point on T-1 feeds for ISPs while maintaining its wholesale business model, so as to not compete with its ISP customers for end users. WillCom might have about 2 percent share right now, but I expect it will breakaway from the pack soon."

The Williams Communications IP network is a nationwide, legacy-free, OC-48 backbone network utilizing packet-over-SONET technology to offer customers highly scalable and cost-efficient access to the Internet.

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Global Crossing Lives Up To Its Name
| In just under four years, Global Crossing completed its core network buildout linking 27 countries in more than 200 major cities throughout Europe, North America, South America and Asia.

The final connection was between Lima, Peru and South American Crossing, which is already operational in major markets throughout the region, including Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela and Panama.

Tom Casey, Global Crossing chief executive officer, said the accomplishment is one of the most extensive infrastructure projects ever completed by the company.

"Amid difficult market conditions, Global Crossing has built a unique network on budget and on time," Casey said. "Now provide seamless end-to-end connections to both carriers and commercial customers from Europe to North and South America to Asia."

Current customers include premier carriers like Deutsche Telekom, British Telecom, Telecom Italia and Qwest. Global Crossing also has long-term carriage contracts with the British Government and the U.S. Navy.

Casey added that the fiber optic network operator is anxious to leverage its global presence into managed broadband service sales.

"Global Crossing's business plan is fully funded and we have already recouped more than half of our construction costs through existing sales contracts," Casey said. "This enables us to offer managed broadband services on a global basis to leading enterprises. We are focused on exploiting our first-mover advantage to generate revenues."

Beyond its core network, Global Crossing is currently building a previously announced Asian extension that will connect Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines to the global network. This fully funded extension is expected to be complete in the first quarter of next year. Global Crossing is also extending fiber directly into customer premises in many major markets, officials added.

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