Tania Klaus

ISM 5226

Industry News

"Joining Crowd, AT&T Unveils Merged Voice-Data Service", ComputerWorld, ComputerWorld Inc., February 1, 1999.

This article contains information about the newest networking service provided by AT&T. With AT&T’s Integrated Network Connection (INC), consumers are now offered a better selection of merged voice-data service providers. MCI WorldCom Incorporated’s On-Net and Sprint Corporations’ Integrated On-Demand Network are the other two choices. AT&T will be relying on ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) switches installed on the client site to combine the voice and data traffic.

Some organizations are hesitant about this service, worrying of a carrier failure causing complete shutdown of all network needs. Last April, AT&T had a nationwide frame-relay outage which would have placed companies completely offline for ten minutes. This is a major drawback that should especially be considered by large companies that conduct business online. This INC service is currently in testing and is expected to hit the market in July.

Sanchez, Jana, "Cisco inks deal to build AT&T IP network", Computerworld Online News, January 7, 1999.

This related article gives more information on the product currently in development by AT&T and TCI. The network would allow AT&T to offer customers the ability to watch TV, send and receive faxes, use the Internet and talk on the phone simultaneously. The proposed network would use voice-over-IP technologies to offer less expensive delivery of these services. The IP backbone would use Cisco’s 12000 Gigabit Switch Router (a multigigabit, carrier-class, IP backbone router) along with its Universal Broadband Router (which allows cable modems to communicate with the backbone network).