Cross-Border Private Line Services

When we think of ordering private line services, we’re usually looking to connect a couple of business locations within the country. Granted, one may be on the East coast and the other on the West coast, but you’re still taking about the same nation. Sometimes, though, you’ve got to cross an international border to do business. In that case you need international network or cross-border line services.

Not every carrier does business internationally. In fact, there are really only a handful compared to all the others that operate regionally within a few bordering states or have a nationwide footprint. When you go from one country to another, you are dealing with different laws, different customs and sometimes even different technical standards.

For instance, did you know that the companding standard for digitized switch-circuit telephone calls is different between the US and Europe? They are almost, but not quite, identical. The standard CODEC (Coder/Decoder) for PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) is G.711. To improve the signal to noise ratio and create quieter calls, a technique called companding is used. Basically, the voice signal is compressed when it is sent and expanded on the other end. The compression doesn’t affect the noise on the line, but the expansion makes whatever noise is picked up during transmission lower in volume. The compression algorithm Mu-law is used in North America and Japan. Another algorithm called A-law is used in Europe and the rest of the world. By convention, A-law is the default for telephone connections where one party is in a country using A-law.

The same can be said about T1 lines. In Europe, there is no such thing as a T1 line. Over there the standard is E1. What’s the difference? It comes down to the number of channels and bandwidth of the line. T1 lines run at 1.5 Mbps using 24 channels of 64 Kbps each. That channel size was chosen as the standard for the PCM digital telephony just described. The US, Canada, Japan and South Korea use the T1 line standard. Japan calls their slightly different version J1. Europe and the rest of the world use E1 as a standard. E1 lines run at 2 Mbps and have 30 channels or time slots instead of 24.

None of this makes a hoot of difference unless you are trying to connect traffic from one country to another. Then, suddenly, being able to make the conversions between standards becomes critically important. Obviously, it’s possible to interface T1 to E1 and have your equipment set up to switch from Mu-law to A-law when needed. We communicate globally with no effort on the user’s part whatsoever. But somewhere along the line, someone has make that border crossing interface so that traffic flows smoothly. Those are your international carriers.

What cross-border telecom services are available? Private data lines are very popular with multi-national companies or companies that do business internationally. If there are only two locations, a point to point circuit with the right bandwidth is what you are looking for. If you have multiple locations, some of which are in other countries, a MPLS network is likely a better answer. MPLS stands for Multi-Protocol Label Switching. The multi-protocol aspect means that it can handle just about anything you can throw at it. An international carrier running an MPLS network can pick up your traffic anywhere they have a Point Of Presence and drop it off at any of their other POPs. You use an appropriate last mile connection, say T1, E1, Ethernet over Copper, SONET, Ethernet over Fiber, etc., to connect to the network POP.

Here’s an interesting fact. You may find that if the distance is long enough, an MPLS network is less expensive than a dedicated private line even for only two locations. That’s because the engineering and operations cost for that special private line can be substantial compared to an MPLS network that is already in place near your business locations.

Do you have a need to connect from the United States to one or more international destinations? Check cross-border line service availability and pricing to see just what your options are from carriers that specialize in these types of connections.



Note: Earth globe graphic courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

DIA and VPN For Europe

Level 3 Communications, a Tier 1 Internet networking services company with a global fiber optic footprint, is bringing its Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) and Virtual Private Network (VPN) services portfolio to European markets, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom. As the worldwide business climate improves, international connectivity will become more and more important for business success in a global marketplace.

Major multinational corporations and larger Internet Service Providers may operate their own Autonomous System (AS) networks that give them the ability to peer with other networks and purchase IP transit services to get to the Internet backbone. But many businesses don’t have or want the level of investment that it takes to operate an International private network. These companies still need high quality, reliable Internet access for e-commerce, communication with their customers, and private connections between far-flung company locations.

Dedicated Internet Access is the service of choice for most business users. What dedicated means is that you have exclusive use of the bandwidth that you purchase to connect to the Internet. But isn’t that always the case? Not really. Residential users and smaller businesses get by with shared bandwidth arrangements such as DSL, Cable broadband, two-way high speed satellite Internet, and 3G or 4G wireless.

The motivation behind bandwidth sharing is that costs are shared as well. The cost of shared bandwidth broadband services is usually well below equivalent speed dedicated bandwidth services. The price you pay is acceptance of not having a guaranteed bandwidth. Indeed, the bandwidth at any given time is a function of how many other users are sharing the service and what they are doing. Just a few people download huge software, database or video files can bring a speedy line to a crawl.

You don’t experience this with Dedicated Internet Access. You have the full T1 line speed of 1.5 Mbps or E1 line speed of 2.0 Mbps available in both upload and download directions at all times. Ethernet access connections are becoming popular as replacements for legacy T1/E1 lines. Ethernet is highly scalable from 1 Mbps on up to 10 Gbps. The lower line speeds can be provisioned over twisted pair copper, while higher speeds require fiber optic connections.

The VPN or Virtual Private Network is a way to take advantage of the universal reach of the Internet while adding a layer of security to protect your data during the time it is traversing the Internet.

Many companies have private point to point connections to securely link multiple business locations within a metropolitan areas or in nearby states. International private lines are also available, but they are pretty expensive for smaller companies to connect with sales offices overseas.

The Virtual Private Network makes it possible for businesses of all sizes to interconnect their domestic or global facilities. Another popular use for VPNs is to provide access to company networks for employees working from home or on the road. Without VPN capability, the organization would have to install a dedicated line between the corporate data center and they employee’s home at considerable cost.

The way a VPN works is that it encrypts the data packets so that they can’t be decoded by anyone who happens to gain access to them along the way. The process is said to create a “tunnel” through the Internet. There a two popular ways to do this. One is IPSec, which requires special client software at each end to perform the encryption and decryption of the data. Another approach is SSL or Secure Socket Layer. This technique requires only a standard Web browser for access. It uses the same encryption employed by ecommerce sites so that visitors can make online purchases securely.

Do you have need for Dedicated Internet Access or Virtual Private Network service to support your business or organization? If so, get prices and availability for DIA and VPN services to meet your requirements.



Note: Physical map of Europe courtesy of Wikimedia Commons