BellSouth Offers Unique Flexibility for Data Communications; Burst-Limited PVC Option Allows Customers to Control Data Traffic

Business Wire, Nov 18, 1997

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 18, 1997--A new feature available with BellSouth's Internet frame relay service allows customers to more precisely manage their data communications traffic while using existing corporate frame relay facilities for Internet access.

BellSouth.net Business Services' burst-limited PVC (private virtual circuit) service enables businesses to manage Internet traffic to a level where it doesn't interfere with co-existing mission-critical data applications. When combined with BellSouth's fractional frame relay offerings and multiple committed information rates (CIR) for frame relay service, this additional feature provides businesses maximum flexibility in data communications including Internet access.

"We know the networking needs of our customers are changing rapidly," says John Stuhrenberg, vice president of Consumer Products for BellSouth.net Inc. "BellSouth.net Business Services allow businesses to migrate easily to new levels of service to meet their changing requirements and to customize a networking solution tailored specifically to their budgets."

The burst-limited feature lets customers with a BellSouth frame relay network provision Internet access at various rates less than the port speed of their frame relay access connection. This allows them to have Internet access and a private data network on the same network facilities without degrading the performance of the private network. The burst-limited option makes it easier to integrate Internet and data communications in an efficient, cost-effective manner.

"This latest feature from BellSouth.net Business Services is just one more step in our effort to make it easy for our customers to integrate Internet capabilities into their existing networks," says John Stuhrenberg, vice president of Business Products for BellSouth.net Inc. "With our fractional frame relay offerings, CIR options and now the burst-limited PVC feature, we can develop a turnkey data communications system that meets the needs of businesses of any size -- all with the reliability customers have come to expect from BellSouth."

BellSouth provides dial-up and dedicated Internet access, related network services and Web Hosting. Dedicated connection speeds range from high-speed DS-3 connections at 45 megabits per second to DS-0 at 64 kilobits per second, with fractional frame relay offering options between DS-3 and DS-0. Multiple CIR levels allow customers with mission-critical applications to select a committed amount of bandwidth for traffic sent through the BellSouth network, with the ability to burst to full port speed when needed if the capacity is available on the network.

A recent recipient, for the second consecutive year, of the J.D. Power award for customer satisfaction, BellSouth (NYSE:BLS) is a $19 billion communications services company. It provides telecommunications, wireless communications, Internet access, directory advertising and publishing and other information services to more than 28 million customers in 20 countries worldwide. Its telephone operations provide service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, over one of the most modern telecommunications networks in the world for approximately 23 million telephone lines in a nine-state region that includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The BellSouth Web site is located at http://www.bellsouth.com .

CONTACT: BellSouth

Ted Creech, 404/927-7428

E-mail: tcreech@bellsouth.net

or

M/C/C

Stacy Melody Bockholt, 972/480-8383

E-mail: stacy_bockholt@mccom.com