Based on UUNET's wholesale dialup offering, Verizon Business' VIP Dial Access solution includes 3,800 POPs worldwide.

by Jeff Goldman [May 10, 2006]

Follow, if you can, the bouncing telecom company: UUNET was founded back in 1987, and acquired by WorldCom in 1995. In 1998, WorldCom merged with MCI. Then, early in 2006, MCI was acquired by Verizon for $8.4 billion.

But according to Verizon Business Product Manager Mike White, through all of these acquisitions, the basic wholesale dialup offering first set up by UUNET has stayed the course. It's now a product of Verizon Business, branded as the company's VIP Dial Access offering.

"It's running on the network that was originally put in place by UUNET," White says. "That particular network is still being used, and has many of the same customers that were using it in the years past."

Verizon Business Voice: (866) 232-4282

While the network continues to be upgraded (the entire dialup network is now V.92 compatible), the coverage remains the same—about 3,800 POPs in over 80 countries worldwide, and 1,700 POPs in the United States. "We have not reduced the number of POPs either in the U.S. or overseas," White says. "We're still covering the same locations in the same countries."

Depth and breadth
That coverage, White says, is a strong selling point for the service—including its depth of coverage in the U.S., the breadth of coverage worldwide, and the performance of the network in general. "We still are in some of the locations that others are not, so that allows us to have a slightly bigger footprint," he says. "We have very good performance numbers running on the network—and we have invested in the network throughout the years to ensure that it's meeting the customers' needs."

And Verizon Business Senior Manager Kelly Brown points out that the network's economies of scale have only been helped by the various acquisitions. Verizon Business' Enterprise Mobility Dial Access solution, while targeted at enterprise customers rather than ISPs, shares the same infrastructure with the VIP Dial Access offering. "That gives us some more volume in terms of supporting it, and in terms of making sure that we have the funding to keep up with the network," Brown says.

At the same time, White says, Verizon understands and acknowledges that dialup is a declining market—so the company is always working to target specific locations that still have a real need for dialup. "We're typically in most of the areas that our customers need, but if they come to us and say that need this level of depth in this particular location, we'll always work with them to make sure that it's adequate," he says.

All pricing for the service, White says, is now structured on an hourly basis. While the network formerly had a per-user model available, he says that option is no longer being offered. And he says the service is appropriate for all sizes of ISP, from the smallest regional ISP to larger nationwide (and worldwide) providers. "We don't have any sort of cutoff or requirement in that sense," he says.

The personal touch
Through the various acquisitions, White says, UUNET's original commitment to customer relationships has remained in place. "We still are focused on having a support organization that is dedicated to our customers," he says. "We have individuals working with customers on an individual basis to make sure that their particular market is served by our products—we're still very much in the mode of working directly with individual customers, making sure that there's that personal touch."

While some ISPs that started with UUNET might initially have expressed concern about the changes that the company went through, White says they've generally been pleased with the way things have stayed the same. "Because they were working with the same individuals, account teams and support teams that they were talking with over time, they were able to have a level of comfort," he says. "As we've gone through the acquisitions, we've shown that we've always been there supporting them—and that has not changed."

Despite the new owners, White says, the original value proposition of UUNET's network remains in place. "At this point, even though we have changed again and we're now under Verizon, the commitment is still very much in the wholesale dial market—and we anticipate being able to serve customers for many years going forward," he says.

— End

Related articles:
	[July 15, 2002]	UUNet Ripe for the Picking
	[July 5, 2002]	ISPs React to WorldCom's Demise
	[May 1, 2002]	Ebbers Leaves WorldCom

Online resource:
	Wholesale Dialup Directory