Verizon Business Surpasses Its Halfway Mark in Connecting U.S. Cities With National Optical ULH Network

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- Verizon Business will add 6,000 more miles to its ultra long haul (ULH) network this year, surpassing the halfway point in the company's multiyear plan to deploy a 50,000-mile all-optical transport network across the United States.

In announcing the deployment plan Tuesday (June 12), Verizon Business said more than 15 new ULH routes connecting dozens of cities will be added. The routes include: Chicago to Sioux Falls, S.D., to Minneapolis to Omaha, Neb.; San Jose, Calif., to Los Angeles; Memphis, Tenn., to Longview, Texas, to Dallas; Atlanta to New Orleans; Denver to Colorado Springs, Colo., to Albuquerque, N.M., to El Paso, Texas; and Atlanta to Fairfax, S.C., to Raleigh, N.C., to Greensboro, N.C.

"Verizon Business is on track to realize our vision - and deliver on our promise -- of one dynamic, robust ULH network with optimal diversity and maximum bandwidth," said Fred Briggs, Verizon Business executive vice president of operations and technology. "By adding 6,000 more miles, we're aggressively moving toward the 60 percent completion mark of the ULH network."

Among its benefits, the ULH network supports integrated optical transport and enables photonic switching of wavelengths for network restoration and shorter customer provisioning intervals. The ULH strategy also allows Verizon Business to extend the signal reach beyond 1,200 miles without regeneration equipment, reducing operational expenses as well as the number of active components in the network. The use of ULH allows large-business and government customer traffic on the ULH network to receive a higher level of resiliency, better network performance, reduced latency and increased network availability, with measurements up to 99.999 percent.

"As more of our customers move to wavelength services, Web-based applications and high-speed Ethernet products, they look to Verizon Business to deliver all the network benefits of our ultra long haul network," said Briggs. "Reliability and resiliency of our ULH network are two key deliverables our customers demand. In today's environment, our customers need network connectivity 24 hours a day, and we will continue to make these types of network infrastructure investments to ensure we meet their communication needs around the world."

The Verizon Business ULH network supports an OC-768 core capacity (currently the fastest SONET standard rate for data transmission on optical fiber), with transmission speeds up to 40 gigabits per second (Gbps) for robust performance of IP, MPLS, SONET and SDH services. With the ability to support a mixture of 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps signals on a single fiber, the Verizon Business ULH network provides superior and more cost-effective capacity and wavelength capabilities.

Verizon Business was the first major communications service provider to deploy an extensive ULH network in the United States.

2007 Selected ULH Routes

Chicago to Sioux Falls to Minneapolis to Omaha
San Francisco to Los Angeles
Los Angeles to Sacramento
Denver to Salt Lake City
Atlanta to Fairfax, S.C., to Raleigh to Greensboro, N.C.
Nashville to Charlotte, N.C.
Memphis to Longview, Texas, to Dallas
Indianapolis to St. Louis
Atlanta to Meridian, Miss., to New Orleans
Denver to Colorado Springsto Albuquerque to El Paso
St. Louis to Memphis
Omaha to Kansas City
Atlanta to Mobile
Boston to New York City
Newark to Albany to Buffalo

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a leading provider of advanced communications and information technology (IT) solutions to large business and government customers worldwide.  Combining unsurpassed global network reach with advanced technology and professional service capabilities, Verizon Business delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world.  For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com.

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