MCI offers managed DSL services in Europe

MCI is rolling out managed DSL access solutions for small and branch offices and telecommuters in eight countries in Europe. Until now, MCI had been offering DSL services in the U.S. only.

MCI is rolling out managed DSL access solutions for small and branch offices and telecommuters in eight countries in Europe. Until now, MCI had been offering DSL services in the U.S. only.

The countries where MCI is rolling out its high-speed DSL access services are the U.K., France, Germany and Netherlands. MCI plans to expand into Belgium, Italy, Spain and Sweden by year-end.

MCI is offering three managed DSL access solutions in Europe:

* DSL Office, which is designed for offices with up to 150 employees. This service features an MCI-provided modem/router for service activation by the customer on premise. This service includes technical support, fault restoration and troubleshooting assistance. Pricing is flat fee except in Germany where it is metered.

* DSL Solo, which is designed for offices with up to 20 employees. This service features connectivity to MCI’s global IP backbone through an MCI-provided modem/router for service activation by the customer on premise. This service includes technical support, fault restoration and troubleshooting assistance. Pricing is flat fee except in Germany where it is metered.

* DSL Remote, which is designed for remote, home-based or mobile workers. This service offers centralized customer administration for 25 to 2,000 single-user DSL accounts through a Web interface. This service is only available in Germany.

“We’ve seen a lot of interest from small-to-mid sized businesses who see [managed DSL access] as a replacement for leased lines for traditional Internet access services,” says Graham Starkins, head of Internet access and security services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for MCI.

Starkins says European companies get faster speeds and a cost savings of around 30% when they move from leased lines to one of the new managed DSL services. Actual prices for these services depend on the number of sites being connected and the amount of bandwidth required.

The availability of MCI’s new managed DSL services in particular cities depends on the state of DSL deployment in that country.

“The DSL rollout in Europe is somewhat behind where it is in the U.S.,” Starkins says. “A lot of countries don’t have coverage yet. We’re just coming around the…curve in terms of business customer acceptance of DSL.”

In the U.S., MCI offers DSL access services under the same brand names as in Europe but with fewer bundled services.

“In the U.S. with DSL we have semi-managed services but not the full-touch managed services that we would see [in Europe],” says Alan Lough, senior manager for Internet Dedicated and DSL products for the U.S. at MCI. “We do provide the monitoring and NOC support on a 24-7 basis, but we don’t offer a dispatch person for CPE repair as a standard service. We provide that as a paid service option for DSL. It’s really an issue of the price and competition in the U.S.”