| o Given that each link is rather expensive, it behooves the | NSP to try to avoid needlessly moving a packet back and | forth across a DS-3 local loop just because my ATM | provider can't provide me with any more PVCs. | (Which was my major point, by the way.) Interestingly enough, the NSPs I observe moving large amounts of traffic around are set up in such a way that their routers are generally colocated with carrier transmission gear, and so there *is* no local loop to speak of, as an added cost to an outside supplier. There are issues involving intra-POP technology and the like, though, admittedly. Moreover, the other folks I observe moving large amounts of traffic have no less than two local-loops built with maximal redundancy in mind (different trenches to different facilities and often using different local carriers), so it is much less a question of moving traffic back and forth across the same DS3 local loop, but rather an extension of the intra-POP technology problem faced by the folks with tight relationships with IXCs and overseas equivalents. Do you still see configuring up large numbers of PVCs to be an advantage in these two cases? Sean.