Verizon Deepens Private IP Global Footprint

Verizon Business Deepens Private IP Global Footprint; Boosts Service Commitments and Capabilities

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., March 22 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

Companies Can Further Rely on Verizon Business' Fastest-Growing Service for
Network Resiliency, Greater Application Control and Flexibility

Verizon Business is enhancing and deepening its already expansive Private IP global footprint to meet the global and in-region networking communications requirements of large multinational businesses. With more concentrated in-country coverage, enhanced service-level agreements, improved reporting capabilities and a sixth class of service, Verizon Business's Private IP service (Layer 3 MPLS based Virtual Private Network) provides customers with more flexibility and control over their networks.

"Private IP is the foundation for Verizon Business' portfolio of next-generation products and services," said Mike Marcellin, vice president ofproduct marketing with Verizon Business. "We continue to bolster Private IP'spresence and capabilities to help ensure that converged voice, data and videoapplications move across global corporate networks with the speed, performanceand reliability customers demand."

Network Resiliency After the Taiwan Earthquake

A prime example of the reliability of Verizon Business' Private IP network is the December 2006 earthquake off the coast of Taiwan, which severely disrupted communications across East Asia and put Verizon Business' network resiliency to the test. With eight undersea cables damaged by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake, the company's expertise, creativity and round-the-clock commitment to customer service ensured there was virtually no downtime on Verizon Business' Private IP network across six continents.

"This was the most extensive submarine cable outage ever experienced," said Ihab Tarazi, vice president of global network planning for Verizon Business. "Eight cables were cut in 22 locations, and most of these cables were out of commission on some segments of their routes for an extended period of time."

In a globally connected world, such a disaster has far-reaching ramifications. Major voice and data routes to Asia were affected. The earthquake knocked out voice and data traffic to Taiwan, and the major business center of Hong Kong was also hard hit. With Verizon Business' physical and professional assets around the globe, the company was able to maintain full network connectivity on its Private IP network.

Expanded Global Footprint

Exemplifying Verizon's commitment to bring networking closer to its customers, Verizon Business Private IP continues to enter more countries and expand its in-country presence in key emerging business centers. The service is now available to customers in 121 countries and territories. Recent key node installations, enabling richer coverage, include Malaysia, Thailand, Slovakia, the Russian Federation, Turkey, South Africa, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Vietnam and Slovenia. In countries that already have
Private IP, new nodes include Barcelona, Spain; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Calgary [province of Alberta], Canada; and the Australian cities of Perth, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide.

Enhanced Application Aware Reporting Tools

To provide Private IP customers more control and greater visibility into network performance, Verizon Business has made enhancements to its Application Aware reporting capabilities, including increased customization of network and application performance reporting tools, and extended international availability. All Private IP customers now have the ability to generate customized ad hoc reports, save them as templates and schedule these reports to run automatically. Further, network managers have the ability to group network points of interest for customized reporting and monitoring. In addition, a new systems test feature is available to check polling success rates, allowing customers automatic confirmation that their router is properly
set up for SNMP (simple network management protocol) polling.

Enhanced Service Level Agreements

Verizon Business, a recognized leader delivering world-class service level agreements, has introduced an enhanced Time to Repair (TTR) SLA for all Private IP customers. This enhanced SLA is based on the amount of time taken to restore service during an outage, rather than the average or Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) service outages. This enhanced SLA sets a new service standard of performance commitment for Private IP networks.

In addition, Verizon Business now offers an improved network transit delay SLA that uses city-to-city based latency metrics instead of the previous country averages for all non-U.S. locations. Also, a new Site Availability- Dual Port SLA is now offered for customers that utilize the Disaster Recovery Port feature with Router Diversity and redundant local access. And, customers providing their own local access can now take advantage of certain Verizon Business SLAs.

"Enterprises are demanding more and more from their service providers, including better global coverage for their MPLS networks and tighter service level agreements," said Jan Dawson, vice president of Ovum's U.S. Enterprise practice. "Companies doing business globally need to have a provider they can rely on in all of the places where they do business."

Verizon Business' Private IP service, an optimal platform for converged services, now allows for prioritization of applications via six classes of service (CoS). An organization can customize prioritization to ensure that business-critical applications receive a higher priority across the organization's network. Real time CoS makes Private IP ideal for carrying latency-sensitive traffic such as VoIP and Digital Video.

Verizon Business is a recognized leader delivering IP services for business customers around the world. The company announced separately Wednesday (March 21) that it has been awarded the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Product Line Strategy Award for Enterprise WAN (wide area networking) services. Verizon Business was recognized for its ability to introduce new
WAN products that are strategically positioned to balance its already robust overall product line. The Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Line Strategy is presented each year to a company that has demonstrated the most insight into customer needs and product demands.

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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