Bellcore makes announcement.

MORRISTOWN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 1996--Bellcore announced today that it is offering consulting services to local telephone companies worldwide that are looking for ways to help assure that their networks perform reliably as the Internet access traffic they carry grows exponentially.

According to a recent Bellcore study, "The Impacts of Internet Traffic on Local Exchange Carrier Networks and Switching Systems," the explosion in Internet traffic between subscribers and their Internet service providers over the last year has greatly increased the load on local telephone networks, and, as a result, "poses an immediate threat to the capacity of the public switched telephone network (PSTN)."

In addition, increasing use of the PSTN for Internet-related data traffic (as well as traffic associated with dial-up videoconferencing and work-at-home local area network access) -- rather than the voice traffic the PSTN was designed to carry -- challenges the engineering, forecasting, planning and operational procedures established by the former Bell System over the past 80 years.

"Internet traffic differs qualitatively and quantitatively from traditional voice traffic," said James Gordon, co-author of the study and senior system analyst for Bellcore. "Internet calls have a mean holding time of approximately 20 minutes, while that of voice calls is three minutes. A subscriber line that is used to carry both voice and Internet calls can generate loads well in excess of engineered levels."

If a significant number of lines suddenly exceed their engineered load, network congestion can occur at the local access switch, the backbone trunk and tandem switch network, and at terminating switches connected to the Internet service provider, Gordon added.

Although alternative Internet access methods exist today, most Internet users connect to their Internet service providers across the circuit-switched PSTN via modem and are likely to continue to do so in the near future. Bellcore predicts that by 2001, the volume of Internet traffic carried by the PSTN could increase two- to five-fold. Although some end users will bypass the PSTN and access the Internet via asymmetrical digital subscriber line technology (ADSL) or cable modems, the PSTN will carry the majority of Internet access traffic for at least the next five years.

Bellcore offers both short- and long-term solutions to carriers that are working to reliably and cost effectively accommodate the dramatic rise in data traffic across the PSTN. Short-term solutions include managed trunking, advanced intelligent network routing and numbering, and modem pools or post-switch adjuncts. Long term solutions include packet mode ISDN, pre-switch adjuncts, ADSL, and cable modems. Bellcore can help carriers plan and design solutions, determine what they will cost, evaluate the necessary equipment, and implement solutions.

To obtain a copy of the study, document No. OOC 1013, call the Bellcore Document Hotline at 800/521-CORE.

Bellcore, based in Morristown, N.J., provides telecommunications software, engineering, and consulting services based on world-class research. Bellcore makes information technology work for telecommunications carriers, businesses and governments worldwide. More information about Bellcore is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.bellcore.com.

CONTACT: Bellcore, Morristown

Annie Lindstrom, 201/829-4062

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or

Barbara McClurken

201/829-2164

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