Verizon Business Global Mesh Network Investment Pays Big Dividends for Enterprise Customers During Multiple Submarine Cable System Disruptions in Asia-Pacific Region

When 10 submarine cable systems in the Asia-Pacific region were damaged in more than 20 locations as the result of Typhoon Morakot and earthquakes off the coast of Taiwan, the Verizon Business global mesh network operated exactly as designed.

Within milliseconds of the multiple cable breaks in August, the Verizon Business global mesh network automatically rerouted restorable customer traffic from the damaged submarine cables by providing additional network paths.  As a result, customers could keep their operations running without missing a beat.

From 2006 to 2008, Verizon Business invested $3 billion in its global network serving enterprise and government customers, and plans to invest at a similar level this year.  The global mesh infrastructure is part of that ongoing investment.

"Our network investment and deployment of our global mesh network during the last three years in this region has paid off tremendously for our enterprise customers," said Ihab Tarazi, Verizon vice president of global network planning. "In every location where we had a mesh node, we restored 100 percent of our customers' restorable traffic - without a human touch.

"Our large corporate customers who contracted for our restorable services were pleased with the performance of our global mesh network and our Private IP network, which also is designed with complete backup services," Tarazi said.

Verizon Business began deployment of its Asia-Pacific mesh network immediately after another multiple submarine cable service disruption occurred on December 26, 2006, when eight submarine cables were damaged in 22 locations after a massive earthquake off the coast of Taiwan.  It took several weeks to fully restore service, a sharp contrast to the automatic restoration on the global mesh network after the most recent disruption.

With more than 38 global mesh nodes, including 21 in the Asia-Pacific region, and true end-to-end connectivity and diversity around the world, Verizon Business is a leader in this advanced network mesh technology.  The company deployed the first seven-way route diversity in both the Atlantic and Pacific regions.

One of the most important benefits of the mesh network is the node diversity, route diversity and capacity built into the design.  For example, during the submarine cable service interruptions in August, the cable breaks affected five of nine mesh routes serving Hong Kong, two of five mesh routes serving Taiwan and one of three mesh routes serving Singapore.  Due to the extensive reach and diversity of the mesh network, multiple routes were available to carry the rerouted traffic. Currently, the Verizon Business Asia-Pacific mesh network extends from India to Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the U.S.

"We have to make sure we have as much diversity and route flexibility as possible when we design our mesh networks so our multinational customers continue receiving the high-quality network performance and reliability they expect from Verizon Business," said Tarazi.  "We have seen a dramatic improvement in our overall network performance since we introduced our mesh network, and we will continue to aggressively expand this mesh network in 2010."

Verizon Business has ownership in more than 80 submarine cables around the world including 18 cables in the Asia Pacific region: Japan-U.S.; China-U.S.; Southern Cross (U.S., New Zealand and Australia); SEA-ME-WE-4; and the Trans-Pacific Express network.  Verizon Business is a founding partner and landing party for TPE, which is the first next-generation undersea optical cable system directly linking the U.S. to mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan. The TPE system uses the latest optical technology to provide greater capacity and higher speeds to meet the dramatic increase in demand for IP.

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 one of the world's most connected IP networks 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.

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