The ultimate market for IADs is small and medium-size businesses. However, IAD manufacturers don't typically sell directly to this market. Rather, they sell to the SPs that serve these customers. Incorporated in July 1998, the company is building a 48-city network, placing its own gateway switches in each city. The network will be completed around the end of 2001.
Cost savings are a significant advantage of using IADs.
One reason is improved remote support, which helps prevent costly truck rolls to the customer site. We can diagnose halfway up the stack in five minutes. The biggest savings come in lower infrastructure investments. Because IADs move intelligence to the network edge, SPs can spend much less money on their core switches. 2nd Century is building an ATM-based network and is using IADs that convert voice and data streams into ATM cells.