* Sprint plans to shut down its legacy nets: What does this mean for users?
Sprint is accelerating the adoption of IP VPN services by declaring it will shut down its frame relay and ATM services in four years.
Doing so will force its customers to either make the transition to Layer 2 and Layer 3 IP services or go elsewhere. But customers are likely to come up against similar pushes by other carriers that want to move to IP, even if they have yet to set a concrete deadline, as Sprint has.
The trend has been for service providers to add IP connections to existing frame relay and ATM networks they provide for their customers. This integration gives customers the option to expand their WANs without ripping out their current networks to adopt IP all at once. Customers get experience with IP and service providers can keep customers on their frame relay networks until their IP networks are fully ready.
Meanwhile, customers reap the benefit of lower IP prices that are designed to lure frame relay users.
There is no reason to panic here. So far Sprint is the only major carrier to issue a deadline, and it is giving so much lead time that most businesses will be able to figure out what they want to do before it’s time to renew their service contracts.
Customers who are satisfied with frame relay and reluctant to switch to IP will likely be able to hang onto their service for awhile given how pervasive frame relay is and given that frame relay can be used as an access technology to an IP MPLS backbone network. What looks like frame relay to the customer could in fact be carried over the provider’s IP backbone, an arrangement that should be agreeable to both frame-relay diehards and service providers eager to simplify their networks.
Businesses with frame relay and ATM WANs should explore IP VPN services as an alternative for two reasons. It seems that the transition is inevitable, so they should familiarize themselves with it. And two, with service providers encouraging customers to adopt IP, customers should be on the lookout for bargains, which is one of the most effective enticements service providers have to steer customers in the direction they want them to go.
