The body responsible for the UK's academic network found that it
had jumped from one troubled telecoms provider to another as
WorldCom followed hot on the heels of the recent KPNQwest
collapse.
The UK Education and Research Networking Association (Ukerna),
which runs the Joint Academic Network for the UK's higher education
institutions and administers the .ac.uk and .gov.uk domains, was
keeping a watching brief after switching from the sinking KPNQwest
ship to WorldCom recently.
WorldCom's future is in grave doubt after a $3.8bn (£2.6bn)
accounting scandal came to light last week.
Ukerna was forced to quit its contract with bankrupt KPNQwest at
the end of May when the company's network was under threat.
It switched provider for its UK backbone from KPNQwest to WorldCom
that day in 4.5 hours.
Tim Kidd, production services director of Ukerna, said, "The
service is running fine at the moment but we are keeping a close
eye on what happens. We have contingency plans in place and are
having a number of discussions regarding our options.
On exit clauses in Ukerna's contract with WorldCom, Kidd said, "We
have a good contract which enables us to make the right decisions
at the right time."
He said the organisation had a policy of having a portfolio of
network suppliers because of the volatile state of the telecoms
markets.
Maureen Coulter, an analyst with Gartner, said, "This kind of thing
is very difficult to avoid. The telecoms market is at a stage where
anybody is vulnerable. It is almost impossible to pick the perfect
telecoms partner and all you can do is apply due diligence, while
hoping they're telling the truth. If in doubt go for multiple
suppliers. Don't put all your eggs in one basket."