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Illustrating the expanding junction of voice and data technologies, BellSouth Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. said they will collaborate to deliver beefed-up managed telecom services to enterprise customers in the southeastern United States.
Under the deal, BellSouth will integrate Ciscos IP and optical networking gear into its next-generation network, making it easier for BellSouth to provide data services, such as virtual private network and Metro Ethernet. For enterprises, it will be easier to procure advanced communications, including inventory control at multiple sites, redundant networking capabilities, and remote access to corporate information, the companies said.
In the alignment with BellSouth, which is the dominant local voice services provider in the southeast, Cisco will play an expanded role in providing local and long distance network transport, equipment and maintenance and management.
Together, the companies will offer CPE-based services like IP telephony, wireless local area network, and LAN/WAN transport services and Optical CPE. They plan to target their initial efforts at the health care, finance, education and government sectors.
This week, BellSouth unveiled the upgrading of its core infrastructure to a next-generation Multiservice Provisioning Platform, which Cisco is contributing to, in an effort to make the system more efficient. The network improvements will enable enhanced service level agreements, faster service and a variety of new offerings, including Network VPN.