🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Jul23.220917.26009@news2.cis.umn.edu> molenda@i1.msi.umn.edu (Jason Molenda) writes:
>I just read in the clari.nb.telecom newsgroup about a new product
>announced by Sprint that I thought folks might be interested in called
>`SprintLink'. ...
>
>SprintLink is a deal where you can get a TCP/IP link to the Internet
>with Sprint for a flat monthly rate according to port speed at each
>location.  It is not clear, but there seems to be another service (or
>will be) called SprintNet which runs an X.25 packet network.

"SprintNet" is the new name for Sprint's Telenet X.25 packet-switched
network.  It is probably the oldest commercial public network. (BBN
spun off Telenet in the early days of the ARPANET.)

SprintLink is a commercial TCP/IP service, similar to Advanced Network
Services (ANS, the company formed by Merit, which manages the NSFNET
backbone, IBM and MCI), Performance Systems International (PSI), and
AlterNet, (founded by Rick Adams of Usenet fame).  These services,
unlike the NSFNET backbone, have no acceptable use policy which
prohibits commercial activity.  SprintLink connects to the Commercial
Internet Exchance (CIX) as well as the NSFNET backbone, so it provides
full Internet connectivity as well as connectivity to other commercial
TCP/IP services.

All of these IP service providers offer service in Minnesota.  Note that 
MRNet also provides NSFNET connectivity in Minnesota.

(Stated differently, these IP service providers might be viewed as
commercial versions of MRNet.)

Tim Salo
tjs@msc.edu