Frame Relay is a standardized wide area network (WAN) technology widely adopted throughout the 1990’s that specifies the physical and logical link layers of digital telecommunications channels using a packet switching methodology. It is often used to connect local area networks (LAN) with major backbones as well as on public wide area networks and also in private network environments with leased lines over typically over T-1 circuits. Frame Relay was an inexpensive, reliable and practical solution for businesses in the 90’s. However, modern-day enterprise applications are highly bandwidth-intensive, and customers are demanding new and efficient ways of transmitting data, increasing network capacity, enhancing quality of service (QoS) and reducing cost. Frame simply cannot keep up with today’s business demands, and as most good things, its acclaim has finally come to an end.
Major ILECs are beginning to announce the complete phase-out of legacy Frame Relay technology. What does this mean for current Frame customers? For many, it means looking to migrate onto alternative network solutions. But data and network migration can be a risky undertaking, and is better left to the experts. Global Capacity recently introduced a solution that simplifies the complex process, enabling the effortless migration from legacy Frame Relay onto a lower-cost, private network solution through One Marketplace Access Exchange. The automated access network platform upgrades business’ underlying network infrastructure in order to enable the support of new, high-bandwidth services. This enhanced capability gives organizations an added revenue stream, while also delivering increased network capacity, improving QoS, lowers service cost (per megabit) and secures their positioning as competitors in today’s highly competitive marketplace.
“By utilizing the automated optimization algorithms powered by One Marketplace Access Exchange, Global Capacity is able to help customers lower costs and increase bandwidth while concurrently increasing their off-net reach,” comments Jack Lodge, President of Global Capacity. “Interconnecting to our One Marketplace Network often provides customers the most competitive rates, allowing them to secure a newly found advantage over their competitors.”
Global Capacity is able to take the painstaking hardships out of Frame Relay migration through the implementation of its multi-phase Frame Relay migration plan. This framework is a guide for full-cycle migration, from in-depth analysis of a customer’s existing Frame Relay inventory to the migration of the physical circuits themselves. Greg Hough, Global Capacity’s EVP of Network Strategy, explains the migration process. “Each customer is unique, with specific requirements and demands. Some customers novate their inventory immediately; others choose to work closely with our team to migrate circuit by circuit onto the One Marketplace platform. Either way, Global Capacity mitigates the risk of migration and delivers an efficient, competitive network today.”
But One Marketplace doesn’t just stop at Frame Relay; the platform leverages market-based rates from its supplier base to deliver automated pricing, ordering, provisioning and delivery of access network and any accompanying services the customer requires.
