ATM Is at the Heart of New Telecommunications Network Developed by Sprint.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 1998--

However, an IEC report indicates asynchronous transfer mode technology faces obstacles that may hinder wide-scale deployment for some time to come

Recently, Sprint introduced a new telecommunications capability it calls the Integrated On-Demand Network (ION), which offers business and residential customers significantly increased bandwidth over an existing telephone line for voice, video and data services.

According to Sprint, it is able to deliver the ION capability because its network supports a seamless, integrated service to the desktop user with a common asynchronous transfer mode protocol and utilizes Sprint's (ATM) backbone network. This provides the speed, flexible bandwidth, scalability, consistency and security that can't be provided by other non-ATM-based networks.

"Sprint clearly has decided that the fundamental design of its future network will be centered around an ATM-backbone network," says Frank Groom, professor at Ball State University and principal investigator of "The Future of ATM and Broadband Networking: 2000 to 2010," a research report published by the International Engineering Consortium (IEC). "They want to use ATM as the fundamental protocol for an end-to-end connection of the customer's PC to the host or PC on the other end of the network."

According to Groom, one of the advantages of using ATM as the backbone for a network such as Sprint's ION is that it creates a common protocol that eases interoperability issues. Another is that ATM is fundamentally a data network. Groom says this is a plus, because currently there is little or no investment being made in voice switches, with carriers, ILECs and CLECs investing primarily in fiber transport and packet/cell based data networks.

"Sprint's ION capability is the harbinger of the future," Groom says. "ATM most certainly will be the backbone of the next generation of the Internet as well as the core of the carrier digital backbone networks."

However, "The Future of ATM and Broadband Networking: 2000 to 2010" indicates it may take a while for the future to arrive. Despite the apparent demand for high-bandwidth services among businesses and consumers, the report finds that there are some significant impediments to the deployment of public, high-bandwidth, ATM facilities at a reasonable cost and availability for the end user.

According to the report, most U.S. local and long-distance carriers tend to upgrade their backbone networks based on their perceptions of how the demand for high-bandwidth services from individual customers and geographic communities will grow. This leads, at best, to piecemeal deployment of new technology and backbone modernization.

And despite the fact high-bandwidth deployment is rapidly moving forward in situations where corporate operations are clustered either in large buildings or on a campus, the report finds that the picture for regional, national, and global high-bandwidth connectivity through the year 2010 is less certain.

"The costs of frame relay, ATM networks, T-1, and DS-3 connections remain high, even though there has been considerable decline in the underlying cost over the past decade as fiber and SONET have been introduced," says Groom.

"The Future of ATM and Broadband Networking: 2000 to 2010" predicts local high-bandwidth network deployment will slow down significantly if the current movement towards multimedia deployment and the associated use of video, image, sound, document, text and desktop conferencing does not provide efficiency and revenue value that significantly exceeds cost.

"Should this occur," Groom says, "a technology-driven U.S. economy could easily stagnate, leading to another episode of the mid-70s 'stagflation' economy in the early years of the 21st century."

Designed to help public carriers and enterprise network designers gain a clear understanding of trends in ATM, "The Future of ATM and Broadband Networking: 2000 to 2010" provides strategies for successfully deploying broadband networks in various scenarios, and for achieving both short- and long-term network goals.

The report is based on extensive interviews and a survey of industry professionals. Companies who participated in the research for this report include:

3Com                     AT&T Bell Laboratories
Ameritech                GTE
AT&T                     Hewlett-Packard
Hughes Network Systems   Nortel
IBM                      PrimeCo
Intel                    Rockwell
Lucent Technologies      Southern New England Telephone
Motorola                 Southwestern Bell
NEC America              Sprint

More information about "The Future of ATM and Broadband Networking: 2000 to 2010," can be obtained by contacting the IEC Publications Department via phone [phone]), fax [phone]), or e-mail ([e-mail]). The IEC Web site is at www.iec.org.

The International Engineering Consortium (IEC) is a cooperative, public-service organization dedicated to positive change in the information industry and its university communities. For more than 50 years, IEC has provided educational opportunities for industry professionals, university professors, and promising students. Executives from throughout the industry continue to build strong business and technical foundations for the future through knowledge gained from IEC Forums and Publications.

    CONTACT:  International Engineering Consortium
               Glenn Bischoff, 312/559-4636
               [e-mail]
     URL:      www.iec.org