test, least-congested route for all messages in each transmission. All packets in every message are sent over the same route. MPLS for Multinational Locations No single carrier provides service everywhere. Internationally, most large provid- ers have a presence in Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. However, they have less presence in Latin American cities, and the lowest presence in Africa. The term presence means that they have a switch in a local provider's Point of Presence (PoP). A PoP is the physical building in which a telephone company's switch (central office) is located. The PoP is connected to the Internet as well as to other cen- tral offices that are located close to customers. For remote countries in which carriers have a presence, the carriers have agree- ments with local providers. These agreements specify the type of circuit (local access line) and at what price the local provider will lay cabling from the distant office to the MPLS carrier's switch. In some countries, E1, E3, or Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) is avail- able. In other areas, only DSL or satellite are offered. MPLS carriers place orders with local providers for access lines to the remote offices of MPLS customers. This creates international MPLS networks. Repair and installation problems on MPLS most often occur on the access line or the equipment directly connected to the access line. When problems occur at remote locations to which other providers have installed the local circuit, resolving issues can result in finger pointing. Problems most often occur when new service is deployed. It's not always clear whether it involves the customer's equipment, the local circuit, or the programming in the MPLS network. This is particularly difficult to determine for loca- tions where language and time zone differences can impede communications. Another issue in designing MPLS networks for international organizations is that rural and sparsely populated areas often don't have MPLS available from the same carrier that inst