Top > Business > 2005 > October > 2005-10-14

BellSouth, Sprint To Collaborate

BellSouth announced an internetworking agreement with Sprint Nextel Corporation this week, which will work to enable seamless connectivity for BellSouth`s next generation data customers across both providers` networks. The service is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2006 and will initially utilize the BellSouth private IP in the southeastern U.S. and Sprint`s network in other regions to link businesses with multiple locations.

Fred Shaftman, president of BellSouth Business says, "BellSouth customers will now have nationwide access to leading data capabilities, including full mesh connectivity and class of service priority routing to support converged applications." Officials say the nationwide service will effortlessly transport data across both BellSouth and Sprint MPLS networks.

Shaftman continued, "Teaming with other industry leaders to bring both traditional and next generation solutions to business customers continues to be an important part of BellSouth`s strategy."