Verizon touts new business services

Verizon last week launched an enterprise business unit formed following the company's acquisition of MCI, as well as two service offerings intended to show integration between its wireline and wireless networks.

Verizon Business, as the new unit is called, combines the enterprise and government customer base of MCI with Verizon's former Enterprise Solutions Group. It will focus on providing telecom and Internet services, including optical network products and data services such as frame relay, ATM and private line. Ninety-four percent of Fortune 500 companies are already customers of the unit, Verizon says.

In addition to traditional voice and data services, Verizon Business will offer enterprise customers managed WAN and LAN services, VoIP services and telecom equipment. Building on MCI's "robust suite" of VoIP services, VoIP will be a major area of focus for Verizon Business, says Ed McGuinness, chief marketing officer.

The two services launched last week are Enterprise Mobility solutions - based on the former MCI's remote access suite - and Broadband Wireless Access for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. Enterprise Mobility uses Verizon Wireless' evolution-data optimized (EV-DO) broadband wireless service to enable remote workers to securely access corporate systems and the Internet in 181 U.S. metropolitan areas, Verizon says.

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Verizon last week launched an enterprise business unit formed following the company's acquisition of MCI, as well as two service offerings intended to show integration between its wireline and wireless networks.

Verizon Business, as the new unit is called, combines the enterprise and government customer base of MCI with Verizon's former Enterprise Solutions Group. It will focus on providing telecom and Internet services, including optical network products and data services such as frame relay, ATM and private line. Ninety-four percent of Fortune 500 companies are already customers of the unit, Verizon says.

In addition to traditional voice and data services, Verizon Business will offer enterprise customers managed WAN and LAN services, VoIP services and telecom equipment. Building on MCI's "robust suite" of VoIP services, VoIP will be a major area of focus for Verizon Business, says Ed McGuinness, chief marketing officer.

The two services launched last week are Enterprise Mobility solutions - based on the former MCI's remote access suite - and Broadband Wireless Access for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. Enterprise Mobility uses Verizon Wireless' evolution-data optimized (EV-DO) broadband wireless service to enable remote workers to securely access corporate systems and the Internet in 181 U.S. metropolitan areas, Verizon says.

Access is enabled through a Verizon Wireless Broadband Access/National Access PC card that slides into most laptops, and through the Enterprise Mobility user interface, which handles connectivity administration and establishes security parameters.

The business continuity/disaster recovery service combines Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network with MCI's IP VPN and Secure Gateway offerings. This service is designed to provide companies with a wireless backup for their data networks.

Secure Gateway Services allow customers to connect private and public IP networks securely. Customers can use wireless as a back-up connectivity option should their primary landline connection become unavailable.

The new back-up services are expected to be available next month.

Analysts say these services complete an effort MCI had previously undertaken, and attempt to match current offerings from competitive carriers.

"Finally, [Verizon is] getting the wireless part of the business and the VPN part of the business talking to each other," says Lisa Pierce, an analyst at Forrester Research.

"This is behind what Sprint has been doing and even behind, to some extent, what Cingular has been doing, although Cingular hasn't been able to do it as a single company, she adds. Cingular is co-owned by AT&T and BellSouth.

Pierce says roaming issues and different wireless technologies deployed internationally may limit the new Verizon Business services to North American use even though a "substantial percentage" of MCI customers are multinational corporations.

"Data roaming means you look at [Global System for Mobile communications] types of service more often than not," she says. "That literally means that someone has to look at a different carrier. [Verizon Business services] probably would be embraced more enthusiastically by domestic enterprises."