Verizon Receives Technical Achievement Award for Optical Control Plane Leadership

CHICAGO - Verizon is the winner of NEC's first Empowered by Telecommunications Award for technical achievement.

The award recognizes Verizon for its leadership role in optical control plane technology. This technology allows electronic devices within optical networks to easily communicate with each other via software installed on network elements, simplifying operations and allowing for near real-time provisioning of designated new circuits.

The award was presented at the USTelecom member reception on Oct. 20 in Chicago as part of Supercomm 2009. This is the first year the NEC Corporation of America has presented the Empowered by Telecommunications Awards, which recognize winners for achievements during 2008 in the categories of business value, technical achievement and overall market success.

"This award underscores Verizon's commitment to optical control plane technology and the innovation and functionality it helps us deliver to our customers," said Mark Wegleitner, senior vice president of technology for Verizon. "Control plane technology is the basis for a number of network initiatives such as just-in-time circuit provisioning, bandwidth-on-demand services and our global mesh architecture."

Boris Sinkovec, general manager, sales and marketing, NEC Corporation of America, said, "NEC and USTelecom sought to recognize carriers that displayed vision, leadership and technical advancement in their communications network. With a panel of independent judges, I am proud to offer Verizon the NEC Empowered by Telecommunications Award for technical achievement for its work in establishing multivendor optical control plane interoperability."

In September 2008, Verizon accomplished an industry first by completing a multisupplier interoperability trial in a control plane trial environment. By carrying test traffic through optical circuits on the Verizon core network from Chicago to Atlanta, and using three different optical transport equipment vendors, the company demonstrated use of the optical control plane integrated with a circuit-provisioning support system. The result was a reduction in time between the circuit's order and activation.

As part of the award, NEC will donate $10,000 to FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) on behalf of Verizon. FIRST is a not-for-profit organization established to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 87 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations provide converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. Wireline also includes Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 235,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $97 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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