C&W service bridges T-1/T-3 gap

VIENNA, VA. - Cable & Wireless is introducing a dedicated Internet access service this week that offers customers higher-speed services without the expense of jumping from a T-1 line to a dedicated T-3 line.

The Cable & Wireless NxT1 service lets users bundle two to seven dedicated T-1 Internet access connections. The service is for companies that overload their 1.544M bit/sec line but don't have the need for a 45M bit/sec T-3. The latter not only costs more but also is not as readily available in parts of the country, says Jim Slaby, senior analyst at Giga Information Group, a Cambridge, Mass., consulting firm.

Cable & Wireless is using Cisco 7500 routers at the edge of its network, which support Multilink PPP (MLPPP). Customers have the option of choosing from four access devices, which also support the MLPPP standard. MLPPP combines multiple T-1 lines at wire speed, letting outgoing traffic be divided into segments and then transmitted to the ISP's router, where the traffic is reassembled.

"Customers can also subscribe to usage reports that will allow them to easily see when they may need additional bandwidth," says John McCloskey, senior product manager at Cable & Wireless.

Cable & Wireless has certified Quick Eagle Networks and Tiara Networks customer premises gear for use with NxT1. Equipment options include Quick Eagle's four-port and eight-port DL5400 MultiLink Access Device, which cost $12,000 and $15,000 respectively. Customers can also use Tiara's four-port 1200 Multimegabit Access Concentrator and eight-port 1400 Multimegabit Access Concentrator, which cost $6,000 and $8,000, respectively.

Customers can bundle two T-1s for 3M bit/sec and add up to five more T-1s to get 10.5M bit/sec worth of bandwidth. While customers have to order local-access ports in addition to increasing the number of T-1 port connections to the Cable & Wireless network, they will in many cases see cost savings compared with using a fractional T-3 service. Local access ports cost approximately $200 per month, whereas a T-3 local-access port costs about $2,400, McCloskey says.

While Cable & Wireless would not offer specific pricing, McCloskey did say NxT1 will cost 15% to 20% less than the company's fractional T-3 service rates. The NxT1 service is available now.