Posted: 04/2001
Sprint Expands Wholesale Data Products,
Managed Services
By Tara Seals
Sprint Corp. (www.sprint.com) announced a new portfolio of "Extreme IP" data products and managed services for its wholesale customers during CompTel's 20th Anniversary Conference in Orlando, Fla.
The products, which includes dial-up, dedicated and burstable IP capacity, ATM and frame relay, shared, dedicated and custom web hosting, and managed network services, previously were available only on a retail basis.
In addition to expanded products and services via its intelligent meshed "ION" network, Sprint will offer wholesale customers e-business back-office tools and a dedicated sales team.
Vice president of Sprint's Wholesale Services Division Art MacDowell explains, "By offering expanded data products and new managed services, Sprint is anticipating its wholesale customers' needs and delivering the tools they need to compete."
According to Sprint, the wholesale customer can now expand product lines in a cost-effective manner. For example, carriers or resellers could employ Sprint's web hosting rather than investing time and capital to develop their own solutions.
A dedicated sales force also has been assigned to support the new products. It will help carriers create a customized solutions for their own requirements, Sprint says.
"Customers expect more than just access, they are demanding a single point of contact for end-to-end voice and data solutions," says MacDowell.
Sprint back-office tools also will be made available on a wholesale basis. Customers can use the DeskTop Manager to view services online, add new services and view their account structure round-the-clock, via the Internet.
To provide the expanded services, Sprint says it will leverage existing core competencies including:
- Cisco Gold certification status for managed network services;
- More than 900 technical solutions consultants in its professional services group;
- 50 certified information systems security professionals;
- "Well-established" service-level agreements; and
- Network performance measurement, SLA tools and reporting systems.
Sprint wholesale customers also will be able to gain from the company's VoIP and Sprint ION broadband portfolio. The "Extreme IP" rollout follows an announcement that Sprint will deploy software on Lucent Technologies Inc.'s (www.lucent.com) Stinger DSL platform, allowing Sprint to provision a DSL network route in order to reduce service-delivery times. The carrier will implement the DSL voice and data solution in more than 1,000 central offices via its ION network.
