Company Offers First OC-3 Packet Over SONET Service and Unprecedented Back-Up Connections for All OC-3 Customers FAIRFAX, Va., September 29, 1998 -- UUNET WorldCom, a global leader in Internet communications solutions, today announced several enhancements to its high-capacity OC-3 access capabilities, introducing the industry's first OC-3 Packet Over SONET (POS) service and a new Shadow OC-3 service which will provide unprecedented full-time back-up connections for all OC-3 customers. Available immediately, the new U.S. offerings supplement UUNET WorldCom's existing OC-3 service, which was the first in the industry to offer commercial OC-3 access based on ATM technology.
High-Capacity Access with OC-3 POS
OC-3 POS provides sustained 155 Mbps bandwidth for high-demand users, such as large corporations, organizations with large Web sites, Internet service providers and Internet content providers. SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) technology is designed to conserve bandwidth resources and provide high-capacity access in the most efficient way.
"OC-3 POS provides the fastest, most direct way available to meet high bandwidth requirements," said Kevin Gatesman, product manager for Optical Carrier services at UUNET WorldCom. "The service is designed for customers who need full 155 Mbps bandwidth all the time, rather than a fractional ATM solution."
Broadcast.com, a leading aggregator and broadcaster of streaming media programming on the Web, is one of the first users of UUNET WorldCom's OC-3 POS service. "We are very pleased with the service we receive from UUNET WorldCom," said Henry Heflich, chief technology officer, broadcast.com. "The OC-3 POS service allows us to effectively meet our high-capacity demands."
UUNET WorldCom's OC-3 POS service offers users a direct, dedicated high-speed connection, backed by the breadth and redundancy of UUNET WorldCom's nationwide 622 Mbps network backbone. Like all UUNET WorldCom access services, OC-3 POS is thoroughly tested end-to-end and backed by UUNET WorldCom's comprehensive service level agreements.
Constant Back-Up with Shadow OC-3
In addition to offering the broadest range of OC-3 Internet connections in the industry, UUNET WorldCom has also developed a Shadow OC-3 service to provide constant back-up for customers' OC-3 connections. Shadow OC-3 is a cost-effective service, which offers the peace of mind that a secondary, back-up connection is available at all times for OC-3 customers.
UUNET WorldCom is the first Internet service provider to offer this kind of standby connection for OC-3 services. Shadow OC-3 is available for users of all UUNET WorldCom's OC-3 services, including OC-3 POS.
Pricing and Availability
UUNET WorldCom's OC-3 POS, and Shadow OC-3 services are available immediately in areas served by UUNET WorldCom's state-of-the-art OC-12 U.S. backbone, including San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle. Pricing for OC-3 POS is $182,000 per month. Pricing for Shadow OC-3 is $20,000 per month. Additional information is available at UUNET's Web site, http://www.us.uu.net.
