OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Global enterprise IT managers are challenged with the often competing objectives of enabling new applications and connecting geographically dispersed users and facilities, all while lowering costs and boosting performance. Sprint (NYSE: FON) has a remedy in its new MPLS VPN solution that makes it easier and more cost-effective for U.S.-based and other multinational corporations to provision global networks and consolidate wide-ranging applications onto a single, unified network.

Sprint is extending its standard MPLS VPN offering to over 100 countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America, providing a secure and highly scalable solution designed to support the convergence of voice, video and data onto one network-based IP VPN platform. Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) virtual private network (VPN) technology combines the flexible connectivity and scalability of IP-based services with the security, privacy and quality traditionally associated with Frame Relay and ATM services.

With Sprint’s MPLS VPN, customers can accommodate changing business needs to add locations or update the flow of communications between locations without the hassle of ordering, provisioning and managing complex Layer 2 circuits. The Sprint MPLS VPN supports both intranet and extranet applications. Enterprises can easily migrate from legacy technologies to efficiently connect their global sites and benefit from the security of a private network and any-to-any connectivity. Moreover, Sprint provides a highly flexible Class of Service (CoS) capability as a standard feature, with no additional setup fees or incremental charges based on the amount of real-time/high-priority traffic.

As a network-based solution, Sprint handles addressing, routing and Quality of Service, creating savings on customer-premise equipment and network management costs. Sprint’s MPLS VPN provides customers with a secure private IP environment based on the IETF RFC 2547bis standard. Traffic is isolated, and data travels the optimal shortest path across any available network. Customers have the ability to prioritize their mission-critical traffic, while Sprint SLAs cover availability, packet loss, delay, jitter and installation.

Sprint has also extended network-based capabilities beyond the traditional VPN intranet service provided by carriers. Customers can select from a powerful suite of integrated, value-added services like remote access services (RAS), IPSec tunnel termination and secure Internet access protected by network-based firewalls. These offerings are provided at the Sprint network edge and integrate seamlessly with the customer’s core MPLS VPN, enabling cost savings over traditional premise-based alternatives while providing higher performance and redundancy. Another advantage is hybrid networking via seamless internetworking. There are a number of flexible access options available – including DSL, Frame Relay, Private Line, Ethernet and wireless via Sprint PCS Data Link(SM) – to support multiple applications ranging from simple email to live video multicasts.

“MPLS VPNs are an economically attractive network solution for enterprise customers,” said Randy Ritter, vice president – Product Management, Sprint. “We can simplify network management while introducing a wide range of additional capabilities. The inherent flexibility of our MPLS VPN service allows us to deliver a secure solution tailored to our customer’s specific business requirements. Consequently, we can meet their objectives of lower cost, higher reliability and reduced complexity.”

Sprint Corp.