14 May 2003 Overland Park, KS Lightwave -- Sprint today announced an agreement with AGL Networks to deploy a large metropolitan area network (MAN) ring in the Phoenix, AZ area later this year.
"The significance of today's announcement is that many Phoenix area customers will soon have their telecom traffic link more quickly into the Sprint network, an industry leader in reporting the fewest FCC-reportable long distance outages of the top three carriers," contends Jim Patterson, vice president of Access Management at Sprint. "Metro networks, such as this one in Phoenix, reduce Sprint's reliance on incumbent local exchange carriers and improve the reliability and service intervals that our company can deliver to customers."
The ring will connect the Sprint network to several local telecom exchange facilities--two points of presence and several end offices--as well as to a Sprint mobile switching center (MSC) in Phoenix. The MSC routes wireless calls for local PCS customers of Sprint.
AGL Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of AGL Resources Inc., will lease fiber on the ring to Sprint within its 60-mile metro network, which covers the Phoenix central business district as well as portions of Tempe, AZ.
The Phoenix agreement marks the second time that Sprint has leased dark fiber from AGL Networks. In December 2002, the companies announced that Sprint had leased dark fiber to expand Sprint's presence in the Atlanta market--home base for AGL Networks' parent company, AGL Resources Inc. Late last year, AGLN decided to enter the Phoenix market after a customer requested that the company provide service there.
The Sprint MAN initiative is establishing local transport infrastructure in metropolitan areas across the United States, enabling Sprint to bypass the incumbent local exchange carriers in several areas of the country. By building these metro rings, Sprint is driving the full capabilities of its all-digital, fiber-optic network deeper into the metro areas of 30 U.S. cities before mid-2004. The company has deployed 20 markets with MAN rings in its service footprint, enhancing network monitoring capabilities and improving network reliability to customers in those markets, say Sprint representatives.