Sprint Earns Highest Ranking Overall, Top Honors in IP Network Reliability over
AT&T, Verizon
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(Business Wire)--
Sprint (NYSE: S) announced today that it received top honors in the Nemertes
2009 Pilothouse awards for MPLS Services. Sprint ranked highest overall and won
top honors in each evaluation category -- value, customer service, and
technology. Sprint also beat chief rivals, AT&T and Verizon in IP network
reliability.
In the Nemertes report, Sprint`s performance this year is characterized as
"exceptional and a new high-water mark…for all other MPLS services providers…One
reason Sprint rates highly on technology is the breadth of connection options
for xDSL to 10 Gigabit/s and even wireless via [its] Data Link [for Wireless WAN
service]."
The report added that Sprint "surpasses almost all other providers with seven
classes of service (COS) supporting all MPLS service offerings…The bottom line
is it`s very clear that Sprint has…kept its eye on the customer; knocking the
socks off the competition."
"Deploying and managing a MPLS network is a big undertaking," says Katherine
Trost, research analyst, Nemertes Research. "The underlying technology is
complex and orchestration of delivering high-quality service takes an
organization with excellent coordination of customer service, and reliability.
Our benchmark participants have singled out Sprint, and its rise to the top is
impressive, as it dominates in all rating categories."
For the past two years, Nemertes Research has asked IT decision-makers to rate
their MPLS-service providers. This year`s project includes 1,393 total
participants. IT practitioners rated their providers on a 1- to 5-scale in the
following areas: Value, customer service, technology, and network reliability.
What makes this project so different from any other research available? The
results are based 100% on the experiences of network decision-makers. Nemertes`
staff determines the methodology, conducts the research and analyzes the
findings. But they have no influence over how any given vendor performs; that
rests with their customers. In addition, no vendors sponsor this research.
"We`re honored to receive this award from Nemertes," said Paget Alves, president
of Business Markets Group, Sprint. "It validates what our business customers
have been telling us - our MPLS capabilities are world class, high-value,
consistently reliable, and backed by the best customer service." He added, "MPLS
is the core of our convergence strategy, enabling voice, video and data via a
single IP connection so businesses can reduce costs, improve employee
productivity and streamline their network. MPLS also offers a flexible network
foundation that scales for growth and allows for easier adoption of next
generation technologies including Unified Communications."
Sprint Global MPLS is integral to Sprint`s strategy to enable IP convergence
leveraging the company`s wireless and wireline network assets. Sprint Global
MPLS provides greater service flexibility with real-time class of service
offered free of charge, industry-leading Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and
3G/4G wireless access options for fixed and mobile users. Through a combination
of its own facilities-based footprint and strategic partner Network-to-Network
Interfaces (NNIs), Sprint Global MPLS reaches 165 countries worldwide.
Sprint Global MPLS combined with SIP Trunking and Mobile Integration is the
foundation for enabling unified communications solutions. In May, Sprint
announced how it is collaborating with industry leaders to enable unified
communications to help businesses and government agencies increase productivity
and customer satisfaction while driving down costs. Unified communications
solutions integrate day-to-day communication tools such as e-mail, voice mail,
instant messaging, calendars, fax, and audio/video conferencing into a single
platform and a common user experience.
Sprint Global MPLS is available through its Business Markets Group (BMG), which
is composed of more than 4,000 sales, support, marketing and operations
personnel solely dedicated to enterprise, small and medium-sized business and
public sector customers. BMG delivers wireless, wireline and converged solutions
for companies, drawing on the nation`s most dependable 3G mobile broadband
network,* 4G capabilities that are well ahead of Sprint`s competition, the
fastest national push-to-talk network,** and a comprehensive solutions portfolio
of devices and applications.
For more information on Sprint MPLS and converged solutions, visit
www.sprint.com/convergence or contact your Sprint account team. To join in the
latest discussions and learn more about business solutions available through
wireline convergence, visit the Seamless Enterprise at
www.seamlessenterprise.com.
ABOUT SPRINT NEXTEL
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline
communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers,
businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for
developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two
wireless networks serving more than 48 million customers at the end of the third
quarter of 2009 and the first and only 4G service from a national carrier in the
United States; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and
international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone.
The company`s customer-focused strategy has led to improved first call
resolution and customer care satisfaction scores. For more information, visit
www.sprint.com.
*"Dependable" based on independent, third-party drive tests for 3G data
connection success, session reliability and signal strength for the top 50 most
populous US markets (including Puerto Rico) from January 2008 to July 2009. Not
all services available on 3G and coverage may default to separate network when
3G unavailable.
** "Fastest" based on initial call setup time.
Sprint
Stephanie Greenwood, 913-315-1612
Stephanie.greenwood@sprint.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009
