BellSouth has teamed up with Sprint Nextel to provide nationwide data services across the U.S. in a move that could help BellSouth compete with other carriers that are merging to create giant companies.

The BellSouth service will connect BellSouth's private IP network in the southeastern U.S. with Sprint Nextel's data network elsewhere in an effort to provide data service to businesses with multiple locations, BellSouth said Monday. The service, expected to be available in the first quarter of 2006, will use MPLS technology to speed up network traffic and to allow users to connect to the network through multiple protocols.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. BellSouth is still working on cost and service options, said Todd Smith, a BellSouth spokesman.

BellSouth pursued the partnership with Sprint Nextel because of customer demand for nationwide data services, but the deal should help BellSouth compete with merging competitors, Smith said. Large telecom carrier Verizon is in the midst of acquiring voice and data provider MCI, and telecom carrier SBC is acquiring voice and data provider AT&T.

"Regardless of what's happening in the industry, BellSouth wants to be the premier data provider for its customers," Smith said. "[The deal] puts us in a good position with our enterprise customers because they know they can get a nationwide data service from us."

In many cases, large companies with multiple office locations have had to piece their networks together themselves and manage multiple locations, each with specific network requirements, BellSouth said. The goal of the new service will be to provide a managed network regardless of customer location.

The deal is a good move for BellSouth, said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecom analyst. "This move is important because it allows BellSouth to change as the industry changes," Kagan said. "It allows them to stay competitive on the business side as well as the consumer side. This allows BellSouth to be competitive with companies like SBC and Verizon."

Verizon, SBC and BellSouth are three of the four regional Bells remaining after the U.S. government breakup of the old AT&T in the mid-1980s. Those regional Bells will need to compete more with each other, as well as new voice and data competitors such as cable television providers, Kagan said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.