On Wed, 3 Jun 1998 kbrown@primelink.com wrote:
I'm pretty sure I'm not the first to read about this in our local paper, but Sprint announced their new strategy for integrating voice, data, video over "standard phone lines." They are calling this the Integrated On-Demand Network or ION for short. It sounds an awful lot like ISDN services from perhaps an ESS switch (8 viable bonded channels max) versus the DMS100 (2 bonded channels max).
An article at wired.com had a little more detail than the marketing hype that dominated the Sprint press release. The only additional details that emerged were as follows: 1. The Sprint backbone that ION relies on will be the ATM network that they've been working on. 2. For the end user, Sprint is going to be reselling various LECs' ADSL offerings and then charging an extra $200 to install a metering device at the end user's location. It's not apparent as to whether ION for both the business user and the home user will rely on a LEC's ADSL (a scary thought). Following the ION announcement has been singularly frustrating due to the absence of any technical content in their announcements. Jeff ####################################################### # Jefferson Burson Tracor Aerospace, Inc.# # Internetwork Manager 6500 Tracor Lane # # jburson@tracor.com Austin, TX 78724-2000 # # Voice: 512.929.4192 Pager: 512.606.6792 # #######################################################
Our local Sprint outlet, to whom I am contracted to administer several pieces of their local dial in access project has just about finished installed the DMS100 switch (yep...we don't have ISDN yet around here). According to the Sprint Internal press release "Sprint today" they intend to completely change their local technologies (scrap the old, in with the new) instead of upgrading their existing network like other carriers.
Announced also was the fact that Cisco Systems has been designing/testing/developing the hardware to make this project work, with BellCore doing the software for the project. Rollout to major business is expected to happen in large markets sometime yet this year with residential offerings happening sometime in 1999.
Has anyone heard any additional information or have any more insight into this announcement? I am curious how this might affect the remainder of the industry.
Kevin Brown Huber & Associates, Inc. Networking Technologies kbrown@primelink.com http://www.primelink.com/haa/lanwan