US packet switching network operator and equipment builder Telenet Communications Corp, now part of US Sprint Communications, is anticipating the introduction of Integrated Services Digital Networking with products that enable US users to marry packet-switching to high-speed digital T-1 equipment in an integrated network system. Telenet has signed a five-year contract for the Link family of T-1 networking equipment from Timeplex Inc, and Telenet has unveiled its first products to help users mesh its own packet-switching equipment and services with a T-1 network based on Timeplex’s switches and parent US Sprint’s dedicated T-1 lines. The Telenet Integrated Digital Network offering is a network based on Timeplex Link/2 T-1 switches that can be linked via US Sprint’s fibre-optic digital backbone. Resold by Telenet as the TP7/I, Timeplex’s T-1 switch is available now from Telenet at between $25,000 and $100,000. According to Computerworld, the agreement with Timeplex will further US Sprint and Telenet’s goal of becoming a leading single-source provider of telecommunications and services, using Telenet’s packet net and equipment and US Sprint’s high-speed fibre optic trunk lines. Telenet also says it has enhanced its TP5/II-5003 Transmission Management System to provide network managers with accecs to both Telenet’s and Timeplex’s network management systems. Transmission Management System continually monitors the operation of either a T-1 or packet-switched network, or a combination of the two, records alarm conditions and maintains a network-status database. The company says it plans further integration of the two equipment lines’ respective network management systems, which may include a hookup to IBM’s Netview network management system. Timeplex was one of the earliest equipment vendors to announce intentions to link up with the Netview/PC interface. Customers can now link Telenet’s T-1 and packet-switching equipment together to form hybrid voice/data networks. Part of the US Sprint and Telenet solution are Telenet’s public data network, or US Sprint Virtual Private Network, which can be used to link user sites that cannot cost-justify dedicated T-1 or packet-switched connections. Another future source of hybrid packet-switched T-1 solutions will be Bolt Beranek & Newman Inc, which earlier this year acquired expertise in the field by acquiring T-1 digital switch manufacturer Network Switching Systems Inc to spearhead its effort.
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