News
IXC Communications, Conxion Announce IP Network Backup Agreement
- By Scott Bekker
- October 26, 1999
IXC Communications Inc. (
www.ixc-comm.com), a network services and telecommunications provider, and Conxion Corp. (
www.conxion.com), an independent ISP, have announced a multiyear, total IP network backup agreement. Under the agreement, IXC and Conxion will be able to provide IP backup capacity at whatever OC level is necessary, potentially over the entire route structure of each company's network. The agreement offers customers and partners of both networks added reliability and fault tolerance for e-commerce.
Starting later this year, IXC and Conxion will begin to implement a redundant, diverse network interconnection. This includes different fibers and switches and a completely separate right of way. Each company could save hundreds of millions of dollars in the future as a result of not having to purchase backup from other companies.
"Recent network outages have reminded the business community of the importance of fail-proof network redundancy," commented Steve Murray, a telecommunications analyst at IDC (www.idc.com). "This unprecedented backup deal between two next-generation fiber-based carriers should get a lot of attention both in the industry and from customers. We're seeing a huge increase in Internet traffic due to e-commerce transactions, and the cost of downtime for e-commerce companies in terms of lost sales, not to mention market cap, can be deadly."
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.