Qwest Frame Relay Service (FRS) is a powerful broadband, network transport service that provides a fast and exceptionally efficient way to transmit large amounts of information across the United States and to over 60 countries worldwide. Qwest Domestic FRS is backed by quality of service (QoS) guarantees. Your information will move over a highly reliable and closed network providing data security and privacy. With Domestic FRS, your critical traffic receives the greatest resources and the best service. Prioritize your traffic through the different FRS service categoriesvariable frame relay real time (VFRrt), variable frame relay non-real time (VFRnrt) and unspecified frame relay (UFR)to support your different types of information (e.g., data, video, Internet, and/or voice over a single wide area network (WAN)). Qwest FRS is suitable for a wide range of business applications.

How Frame Relay Works
Customer information travels across a physical access link to a Qwest FRS port in a FR switch. Using high speed networking technology to bundle information into packets called frames, FRS uses a common format with a common set of rules based on Frame Relay Forum standards. Instead of assigning fixed channels to specific applications, FRS uses statistical multiplexing that allows customer allocation of circuit bandwidth to applications, as needed, thus providing a cost-effective solution. Frame Relay is designed to support many different business applications within a network, treating each business application based on bandwidth needs. Frame Relay Service supports physical layer connections from DS-0 to DS-3 based on traditional digital hierarchy services.

At the FRS port, information is sent across permanent virtual connections simultaneously to multiple destinations. The FR switches know where each frame begins and ends and where to send the information. The switching hardware does not make routing decisions for each framethis is done only at the connection setup or during the network topology changesthus the low delay of FRS. The FRS requires customer premises equipment (CPE). The CPE accumulates information and puts it into the frames for transmission over the Qwest FR network.

About Qwest FRS
Provides peak performance and increases network capacity

• Qwest FRS is built on a redundant, secure and scalable fiber-optic network infrastructure that yields very high service reliability standards.
• The geographically disparate redundant Qwest Worldwide Data Operations Centers provide proactive monitoring and network maintenance 24/7
• Bandwidth is allocated based on application needs

• Integration of data, video, Internet and/or voice onto a single network infrastructure without compromising the unique need of each business application
• Internetworking with other Qwest services (i.e., ATM and Private Line))

• Costs (equipment, network, operations and/or administration) may be lowered because different business applications supported over separate networks and access links are now supported over a single network and access link.
• Domestic FRS supports scalability and QoS of current and future strategic applications with very high bandwidth and stringent QoS requirements.
• There are no distance-sensitive charges within the FRS area.

• Allows you to easily add or delete permanent virtual connections, enabling an easy network reconfiguration to meet changing business needs
• Provided over a highly reliable, flexible secure fiber-optic FR network with QoS guarantees

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