Verizon Business Circles Globe With Optical Mesh Network; Begins Extension to Middle East

Undersea Meshing Provides Additional Paths for Rerouting Communications in the Event of Multiple Cable Breaks

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Now that Verizon Business has circled the globe with optical undersea meshing, the company is extending this technology to the Middle East.

Undersea meshing creates additional paths to seamlessly reroute traffic in the event of multiple undersea cable breaks or network disruptions. Verizon Business was the first service provider to offer seven-way diversity for services traversing cable systems in the Atlantic and Pacific. The meshing is made possible by installing communications equipment in network facility buildings linked to the submarine cables.

With recent mesh deployments in Mumbai and Chennai, India; Marseille, France; and Singapore, coupled with an ultra long haul (ULH) build throughout France, Verizon Business now can send critical customer traffic and business applications in any direction around the world on the global mesh network. The company completed the global portion of its undersea meshing as part of an aggressive, three-year project.

Now Verizon Business is extending its optical-mesh architecture into the Middle East. The first phase of the extension includes installation of communications equipment in Egypt. The geographic location of Egypt allows for an efficient crossing from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea for submarine cable systems.

“Circling the globe with our mesh network has been a top priority we wanted to complete this year for our customers,” said Ihab Tarazi, vice president of global network planning for Verizon Business. “Since we introduced our mesh network, we have seen a dramatic improvement in our overall network performance. Now we extend this same benefit from India, to Singapore, through the Asia-Pac region to Europe and into the Middle East to help meet the growing demands of our multinational customers.”

Automatic Restoration and Real-Time Management

When Verizon Business completes the mesh project in Egypt, the network will provide automatic restoration and real-time management of voice and data traffic between Europe and the Middle East. The mesh network also will provide predictable latency -- the time it takes for data sent from its entry point in the network to reach its destination -- in the event of a network disruption like the one that occurred earlier this year in the Asia-Pacific region when 10 submarine cable systems were damaged in more than 20 locations. The Verizon Business global mesh network operated exactly as designed, rerouting traffic within milliseconds of the multiple cable breaks.

“Our large-business customers want reliability, scalability, low and predictable latency, and maximum uptime, and that is why we are making substantial investments around the world in our network infrastructure,” Tarazi said.

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 rate this year. The global mesh infrastructure is part of that ongoing investment.

Verizon Business also will use the mesh technology on current and future undersea cable systems between Europe and the Middle East in which Verizon Business has an ownership or partners with other companies. One of the newest submarine cables Verizon Business will use for its industry-leading optical mesh architecture is the Europe India Gateway (EIG) cable network, scheduled for activation in 2010.

Verizon Business operates one of the largest global IP fiber-optic networks spanning six continents. The company also participates in more than 80 submarine cable networks including next-generation undersea cables SEA-ME-WE-4 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe), which link Southeast Asia to Europe via the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, and the Trans-Pacific Express network linking the U.S. to mainland China, Taiwan and South Korea. Verizon Business is the only U.S.-based founding member of SEA-ME-WE-4 and only U.S. charter member of TPE.

(NOTE: On Oct. 21 at SUPERCOMM 2009, Verizon Business Global Network Planning Vice President Ihab Tarazi will discuss Verizon’s global mesh network expansion into the Middle East and the network’s performance during the recent multiple submarine cable events in the Asia-Pacific region. The session begins at 12:40 p.m. Central time in Room W183B at McCormick Place in Chicago.)

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.