Verizon Business Completes 100G Trial With U.K. Research and Education Network

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Verizon Business has completed a successful trial of 100G optical service with JANET, the United Kingdom's National Research and Education Network.

The field trial, completed in April, is the latest in a series of successful trials conducted by Verizon, which is aggressively working with major equipment suppliers toward 100G commercial deployment. Typical optical carrier network speeds are 10G and 40G.

Using a 103-kilometer section of the Verizon global network between London and Reading, the trial with JANET demonstrated that 10G, 40G and 100G (gigabits per second) optical signals can be carried simultaneously without signal impact. This means current networks can be upgraded to the higher bandwidth without modification to the physical network, providing a faster, more economical implementation.

"Moving toward reliable, high-performance 100G technology is critical, especially for organizations like JANET that support education and research projects requiring significant bandwidth," said Ihab Tarazi, vice president of global network planning for Verizon. "Once again, Verizon Business leverages its expertise to move toward the delivery of 100G to meet the growing network needs of large-enterprise, government and education customers."

JANET is a private network consortium comprising a backbone and 19 regional networks, connecting universities, colleges and schools as well as research councils.

During the 100G-trial with JANET, test equipment was used to purposely introduce signal impairments, which were then corrected by electronic hardware. The results showed 100G service can provide more than twice the tolerance of conventional 10G signals for several key parameters as well as a more robust transport system with ten times the data transmission rate.

"Our goal is to progress as quickly as possible to the delivery of 100G technology, but with the level of performance and reliability required by our customers," said Tarazi. "This latest trial shows Verizon can definitely meet the requirements of the world's most data-intensive customers, and it moves us another step closer to commercial deployment."

In October 2008, Verizon and Nortel proved 100G transmission could perform with better tolerance for signal distortion than typically found in today's standard 10G wavelength. A month earlier, Verizon and Nokia Siemens Networks announced they had successfully transmitted data at 100G on a single wavelength for more than 1,040 kilometers, setting a new distance record over deployed fiber and demonstrating better performance than conventional transmission. In November 2007, Verizon and Alcatel-Lucent transmitted a commercial information package - a FiOS video stream - between Tampa, Fla., and Miami at 100G for the first time over a live network. 

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a global leader in communications and IT solutions. We combine professional expertise with the world's most connected IP network to deliver award-winning communications, IT, information security and network solutions. We securely connect today's extended enterprises of widespread and mobile customers, partners, suppliers and employees - enabling them to increase productivity and efficiency and help preserve the environment.  Many of the world's largest businesses and governments - including 96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and thousands of government agencies and educational institutions - rely on our professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their business. Find out more at www.verizonbusiness.com.

####