BellSouth Launches Regional Fast Packet Access Service

BellSouth Corp. announced the launch of Regional Fast Packet Access Service (RFPAS), providing a more cost-effective solution for service providers to expand their markets and serve customers across the BellSouth region.

RFPAS will enable customers to construct frame relay and ATM networks across the BellSouth region and aggregate frame relay and ATM traffic at major interconnection points in that region.

Prior to the RFPAS service offering, carrier customers were required to interconnect in each LATA in which they served customers. That requirement meant that each carrier needed 38 interconnection points, one in each LATA, to carry Layer 2 traffic throughout the BellSouth region. With RFPAS now allowing customers to aggregate Layer 2 traffic at major interconnection points, customers opportunities to benefit economically may increase significantly.

Regional Fast Packet Access Service will help our carrier customers to interconnect more efficiently with BellSouths network, said Greg Harris, director of marketing for BellSouth Business Markets. They now will be able to utilize BellSouths region-wide frame relay and ATM network to cost effectively aggregate traffic on high-speed network connections.

With RFPAS, customers save on the number of Network-to-Network Interfaces (NNIs) that they want to deploy. They also can take advantage of the economics associated with aggregating greater amounts of traffic on larger NNIs since greater amounts of traffic aggregated on larger NNIs produce a lower cost per data bit.

RFPAS is made available through a new rate element in BellSouths FCC tariff called the Regional InterLATA Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) Extension. This extension is an optional feature that enables carriers to extend a PVC between ATM or frame relay network interfaces in two different LATAs within BellSouths operating territory.

The new tariff filing allows carriers to order the following FCC InterLATA PVC types:

• Frame Relay to Frame Relay
• ATM-to-ATM
• Frame Relay to ATM (FRF.5) Network Interworking
• Frame Relay to ATM (FRF.8) Service Interworking

RFPAS may be included in BellSouths Fast Packet Savings Plan (FSP) and is discounted as a feature under the FSP discount schedules. The FSP allows customers to receive credits applied to their bill in exchange for making a commitment to BellSouth to maintain a minimum level of total Fast Packet Services for a specified period of time.

RFPAS uses the existing ATM and frame relay ordering and billing processes Access Service Request (ASR) via the Common Access Front End (CAFE) system and Carrier Access Billing System (CABS). The use of existing systems and processes will minimize process impacts for carriers wishing to purchase this service.