BellSouth Signs More Than $2 Billion in New Contracts With Major National Wholesale Customers.Business Editors ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2002 BellSouth's Wholesale Customer Initiative and Market-Based Pricing Key to Multi-Year Carrier Commitments BellSouth (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : BLS See Bureau of Labor Statistics. ) today announced it has signed several multi-year contracts worth more than $2.4 billion with wholesale carrier customers. The contracts are a direct result of BellSouth's wholesale customer initiative, a multi-faceted program launched last year and designed to fully meet the needs of wholesale customers. As part of the initiative, BellSouth works with its wholesale customers to develop long-term commitments that result in volume-based savings for the customer, future revenue for BellSouth and beneficial business relationships. In addition to providing competitive pricing for multi-year contracts, the access transport initiative focuses on enhancing service levels and developing new products. As a result, BellSouth has successfully streamlined ordering and provisioning for DS-1 service and now offers five- and eight-day intervals for service activation in many areas. Noticeable improvements in service metrics include an increase in meeting Customer Desired Due Date and a reduction in Mean Time to Repair. BellSouth also rolled out OC-192 service last year and will offer interconnection to LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. services in the near future. DS-1, OC-192 and interconnection to LAN services provide high bandwidth for voice, data and Internet applications and are further evidence of BellSouth's continued focus on data. "BellSouth is excited to announce the recent carrier contracts resulting from the company's wholesale customer initiative," said Bob Bickerstaff, vice president of marketing for BellSouth Interconnection Services. "BellSouth is extending its commitment to wholesale customers by reducing installation intervals, developing new and innovative products and offering market-based pricing for these agreements." BellSouth Interconnection Services (ICS (1) (Internet Connection Sharing) A Windows feature that enables two or more computers to share one Internet connection. First introduced in Windows 98 Second Edition, sharing is accomplished with network address translation (NAT), which is the common method. ), BellSouth's wholesale services group, received FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. approval to provide transport services The collective functions of layers 1 through 4 of the OSI model. through volume-based agreements in 26 metropolitan markets in the Southeast. Previously, BellSouth was restricted to non-negotiable tariff rate pricing for the company's wholesale access services. As a result of its new pricing regulations, BellSouth is offering market-based pricing packages for customized access transport services. "BellSouth is providing a superior value proposition," Bickerstaff added. "These efforts, combined with our state-of-the-art network and award-winning customer service, make BellSouth extremely attractive to wholesale customers for voice, data and Internet solutions." BellSouth Interconnection Services (http://www.interconnection.bellsouth.com/) is the wholesale business unit of BellSouth, providing wholesale solutions for five core product families: transport, switching, intelligent network services, professional services (job) professional services - A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products. and packet data. BellSouth Interconnection Services customer segments include Interexchange Carriers (IXCs), Wireless Service Providers, Integrated Communication Providers (ICPs), Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs), Resellers, Independent Telephone Companies (ICOs) and Payphone payphone Noun a coin-operated telephone payphone pay n → Münztelefon nt; (card phone) → Kartentelefon nt Service Providers (PSPs). BellSouth Interconnection Services was created in 1997 as a separate business unit. About BellSouth Corporation BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications services company headquartered in Atlanta, GA, serving nearly 46 million customers in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and 15 other countries. Consistently recognized for customer satisfaction, BellSouth provides a full array of broadband data and e-commerce solutions to business customers, including Web hosting Making a Web site available on the Internet. Many ISPs host a few personal Web pages for an individual at no additional cost above the monthly service fee, but the address is subordinate to the ISP; for example, www.friendlyisp.com/pat_smith. and other Internet services. In the residential market, BellSouth offers DSL DSL in full Digital Subscriber Line Broadband digital communications connection that operates over standard copper telephone wires. It requires a DSL modem, which splits transmissions into two frequency bands: the lower frequencies for voice (ordinary high-speed Internet access, advanced voice features and other services. BellSouth also provides online and directory advertising services, including BellSouth(R) Real Pages(SM).com. BellSouth owns 40 percent of Cingular Wireless, the nation's second largest wireless company, which provides innovative wireless data and voice services. |
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