Malone described the subnetworks that comprise MCI WorldCom's frame relay backbone as somewhat of a patchwork, given all the equipment vendors involved. Domestically, MCI uses BNX switches from Nortel. WorldCom, prior to its merger with MCI, built its frame relay network with equipment from companies that ultimately were acquired by Cisco and Lucent. The carrier is upgrading the whole network with Lucent switches. MCI WorldCom did confirm that Lucent technicians are working on site with line cards and software to rectify the network problems.
Credits take affect in the first month of noncompliance.
Monetary consequence of failing to meet SLA equals 5 percent deduction from whole bill in any month that the guarantee was not delivered. While the service provider may be studying some form of compensation, as of press time nothing had been decided.