Global Trade Barriers Dropped Long-awaited switched virtual circuit services will begin to roll out from telcos this year, but they may not be for the faint of heart. Moreover, costs associated with equipment upgrades promise to deter all but existing ATM users from subscribing to the service.
Companies pay only for the amount of bandwidth or time they use.
But telcos have been slow to deploy SVC-based services because billing and bandwidth management have proved complicated. Instead of charging one price for one circuit, as they do with PVCs, service providers must be capable of billing a company by the minute for use of switched circuits. Telcos are now beginning to resolve billing issues. MCI said it is also planning a frame-relay service based on SVCs. But Frank Remski, manager of advanced technologies at Unisys, warns that complicated installation and equipment func-tions that lag behind services may dissuade all but the most determined of ATM users from implementing SVCs.