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@Link Services, LLC, an Oklahoma Limited Liability
Company is formed by a consortium of individuals and entities with
expertise in the telecommunications industry, with the ability to
provide value-added services to independent telephone companies.
It is anticipated that by combining the resources of its members,
the Company can provide services that independent telephone companies
would otherwise be unable to afford. Such services shall be made
available to Members of the Company, as well as to unrelated third
parties. @Link will assist its IOC customers by providing end-to-end
network solutions with a full range of products and services, with
initial focus on Video-related products. In addition to providing
wholesale services to IOC customers, @Link will also deploy enterprise-related
services on a retail basis.
@Link is a telecommunications provider employing
a MPLS core infrastructure enabling high quality services for the
ILEC industry necessary to assist in maintaining a competitive edge
and retention of their existing subscriber base. @Link also provides
a revolutionary CLEC application in RBOC territories, providing
IP-based voice, data and video delivery, primarily by utilizing
WiMAX technology, but also delivers these services through wholesale
DSL or cable network access.
When you come to a fork in the road, take it! Most
telecommunication service providers today are coming to the IP (Internet
Protocol) fork in the road, and will have to make some decision
about how to proceed. While equipment suppliers will continue to
support existing TDM (Time-Division Multiplexing) based systems
for awhile, new developments and product deployments will increasingly
be directed toward IP-architected products. If application (new
revenue) opportunities or cost-benefit calculations haven’t
already prompted the transition, every company will be moving toward
IP as aging TDM systems are replaced.
The convergence of IP and circuit-switched networks
has reached full momentum with IP
networks evolving to meet stringent carrier grade requirements.
Service providers can no longer afford to incorporate expensive
and restrictive proprietary technologies in their networks. New
systems must deliver maximum ROI and be based on standards and open
architectures. This ensures that IP/circuit-switched migration and
convergence strategies are achieved with flexible, multi-purpose,
rather than single-purposed communications systems. Today, service
providers are required to do more with less. Under pressure to deliver
positive cash flow, service providers are limiting capital expenditures
and seeking ways to operate networks more efficiently. At the same
time, consumers are demanding more innovative applications. They
are quick to change providers if price and service offerings do
not remain attractive. Service providers must be agile and able
to deliver new services “on demand.” This is accomplished
via messaging and communications solutions that facilitate development
and cost effective introduction of the new applications demanded
by consumers. This plan provides a logical and economical solution
for today’s service provider to embrace new technology by
building on existing assets but more importantly the collective
wisdom and experience gained by pooling efforts, ideas and resources.
This approach is crucial in today’s deregulated world of new
service providers and potential threats.
Independent Local Exchange Carriers (ILEC) are
faced with new pressures where subscribers are ever-increasingly
demanding multiple services bundled through a single provider. This
has caused many ILECs to spend much time and money searching for
ways to survive in this new environment. The need to provide voice,
data and video, on a bundled singe rate basis, is required in order
to remain competitive and sustain subscriber revenue. However, the
cost of providing these services has proven to be far too much to
go this venture alone.
After the passage of the Telecommunications Act
of 1996, local competition for dial tone became a multi-billion
dollar opportunity across the United States in a very short period
of time. However, once the realities of competitive costs and pressure
became apparent, this boom was followed by one of the largest recessions
in the telecommunications industry in its history. Not all of it
was attributable to the CLEC bubble, but a great significance was
attributable to speculation and over-exuberance once local dial
tone was open for competition. The cost of unbundled loop and switching
elements, along with restricted bandwidth and regulatory obstacles
bogged the market down to a pace far slower than business models
had projected. It is in this vacuum of market realities and competitive
pressures that @Link enters to fill the void.
@Link intends to offer:
1. A core SONET fiber network with a centralized
MPLS - IP-based infrastructure for voice, data and video.
a. Offer augmentation of video, LD and even internet
services to incumbent ILEC networks.
b. Pay for transport costs between core network and ILEC network
through moving transport revenue paid by IXC’s from SBC to
@Link’s fiber facilities
c. Assist in augmenting ILEC by offering bundled, single rate services
to retain customer base.
2. Offer competitive enterprise and residential services
(voice, data and video)
a. Utilize the same core MPLS network
b. Reach customers in the last mile via:
i. Wireless (WiFi/WiMAX)
ii. Heavy DSL
iii. Cable Modem access (VoIP only)
Since the telecommunications debacle, technology has
continued to march forward, particularly in the wireless and IP industries.
The two most significant technologies to come on the scene are services
delivered over IP and Wireless. In addition to these two new products,
the IP industry continued to move forward with improvements with through-put,
capacity, and compression techniques. @Link is one of the first companies
to consider these improvements in technology to provide low cost, high
margin services, providing two important functions. The primary function
is the provision of voice, data and video, utilizing IP-based MPLS network
technology to incumbent, rural telephone companies, so they can retain
their customer base as well as maximize their cash flow potential, by
maintaining a competitive edge in their respective areas. The second
function is to re-invent the CLEC in an IP environment so that the very
same backbone network can provide voice, data and video to residential
and enterprise subscribers over wireless, DSL and cable facilities.
The CLEC potential provides a way to take advantage of the advancements
in these systems as well as maximize the cash flow from a new MPLS network.
@Link is building a technically advanced communications,
yet simple, network to support its IOC owners and customers by enabling
new revenue-generating and cost saving services that are unavailable
to them today. By spreading the costs of capital and operating expenses
for this business over many individual IOC subscribers, @Link can provide
an affordable solution for all services envisioned.
The services offered by @Link provide its IOC partners
with an unfair advantage against impending threats. @Link will leverage
the networks of its IOC partners to quickly establish a cutting-edge
IP-centric fiber-optic network capable of supporting a host of competitive
services. Inter-exchange Carrier Hubbing- and Video-related services
will be @Link’s initial focus. This will establish the foundation
for near-term revenues and rapid profitability. Additional services
will be added to the product portfolio which will establish a continued
competitive advantage as well as long-term growth. These additional
services include: Long Distance, Advertising, Video vertical markets
(heathcare, education), Video programming services, Advertising, Retail
Enterprise (VPN, IP-centrex, VoIP, storage area network, disaster recovery),
Retail Wi-Fi, SS7 Alink Consolidation, SigTran SS7oIP and more.
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