PSINet Pairs With Covad To Introduce DSL Services

PSINet Inc. Monday announced an agreement with Covad
Communications
to launch PSINet Digital Subscriber Line services.

Covad Communications will supply PSINet
with its TeleSpeed line of services for business Internet access. Covad’s
TeleSpeed circuits use Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line, Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Line, and ISDN Digital Subscriber Line technology to
achieve data transport speeds ranging from 144 kilobits per second to more than
1.5 megabits per second.

In addition to standard DSL services, PSINet will offer an enhanced DSL
connection that combines existing copper infrastructure with DSL technology
to replace the telco local loop. The enhanced DSL service reduces local
loop charges and installation time, when compared to traditional T1 service
connections.

The PSINet enhanced DSL services will initially be launched in San
Francisco in the second quarter, followed by rollouts
in Los Angeles and other unspecified metropolitan areas this summer.

“This unique service is consistent with PSINet’s strategy to develop and
offer alternative Internet access methods to the telco local loop. PSINet
InterSky, for example, offers an affordable, high-speed alternative to
traditional land-based last-mile Internet services using wireless local
loops,” said William Opet, president, PSINet’s Corporate Network Services.

PSINet and Covad are jointly exploring other developments in DSL
technologies and plan to leverage the resources of both organizations to
further develop high-speed DSL business solutions.

“We welcome working with PSINet, which will help expand the availability of
our industry-leading TeleSpeed products to businesses,” said Robert E.
Knowling, Covad’s president and chief executive officer. “We also look forward to bringing DSL
services to PSINet’s portfolio of Internet services, at an excellent value
for the end user.”

DSL technology produced high-speed Internet connectivity over existing
copper infrastructure. DSL connections utilize a line-coding scheme that
allows for connections through ordinary twisted pair copper telephone
lines, which reduces “last mile” bottleneck to high-speed communications.

DSL speed depends on a customer’s distance from the telephone company’s
central office and the quality of the existing copper line infrastructure.
PSINet will provide estimates of bandwidth availability to customers prior
to installation of DSL services.

SDSL technology transmits on a single-pair copper line, usually at 784 kbps
or half the speed of a T1 data rate. Although not originally intended to
operate simultaneously with plain old telephone service, the common
business applications today include regular data transmission and voice or
fax telephony.

ADSL technology was originally developed to help provide video-on-demand
applications. ADSL is faster in the downstream, than the upstream and can
be split into ISDN lines.

IDSL is a technology originally developed by Ascend Communications to expedite DSL
data-only services through existing ISDN card technology.

Covad Communications currently offers DSL services to ISPs in the San
Francisco Bay, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Washington D.C.,
Philadelphia, Seattle, Sacramento and Baltimore, and has announced plans to
further deploy its networks this year.

PSINet is a global facilities-based Internet Protocol data communications
carrier offering advanced Internet connectivity and Web hosting services.
PSINet currently operates a global network consisting of 500 points of
presence throughout Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy,
Japan, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, the United States,
and the United Kingdom.

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