Verizon Business’ Global IP Network Ranks No. 1 as Most Connected Public Internet Network, for the Tenth Consecutive Year

Independent Research Firm Recognizes Verizon Business for More Closely Connecting Customers to the Internet.

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - The Verizon Business global IP network has been recognized for the tenth consecutive year as the world’s most connected Internet backbone.

In its annual “Global Internet Geography Study,” TeleGeography found that the Verizon Business global IP network continues to serve the Internet with the greatest number of autonomous system (AS) network connections of any public IP network in the world.

“The autonomous system ranking is a measure of the connectedness of an IP network to the rest of the public Internet,” said Alan Mauldin, TeleGeography research director. “While all networks can reach each other on the Internet, the AS ranking demonstrates the closeness of a network to the rest of the Internet, as in the number of ’hops’ (segments on network route) data must take to reach its destination.”

The complete 2008 TeleGeography Global Internet Geography Study can be found at http://www.telegeography.com/products/gig/index.php.

Since TeleGeography began tracking AS connectivity in 1999, Verizon Business and its predecessor companies, including UUNET and MCI, have ranked first every year.

“Verizon Business’ expansive IP footprint and direct interconnections enable large-business and government customers to reach more destinations directly through its global IP network than any other service provider,” said Fred Briggs, Verizon Business executive vice president of operations and technology. “Our continuing commitment to innovation really began 20 years ago when our legacy companies helped build the commercial Internet. Verizon Business will never stand still. We will continue to provide our customers with a leading global backbone that serves as the foundation for innovative services and applications - now and into the future.”

Verizon Business delivers critical IP traffic for its customers and the entire Internet community worldwide. Customers depend on the global IP network to be accessible to carry large amounts of IP traffic quickly and reliably round the globe. Verizon Business IP solutions have transformed the way global companies operate, enabling customers to better serve their customers.

As the first company in the industry to offer service level agreements (SLAs) for Internet traffic among key global business centers, Verizon Business set new standards for Internet service around the world. Through the years, Verizon Business has raised the bar on Internet service by increasing its performance threshold. These service level agreements reinforce Verizon Business’ commitment to deliver high-performance IP-based services and provide additional confidence for businesses evolving their communications to an increasingly IP environment.

Verizon Business owns and operates a global fiber-optic network that spans six continents and has more than 485,000 route miles delivering services to customers in more than 150 countries and 2,700 cities throughout the world.

Verizon Business participates in more than 65 submarine communications cable systems to help route IP traffic on its global network. Verizon Business is the only founding U.S. service provider involved in a new submarine cable system recently activated to open up high-speed direct Internet routes between the United States and mainland China. The new undersea cable, called the Trans-Pacific Express (TPE), uses the latest optical technology to provide greater capacity and higher speeds to meet the dramatic increase in demand for IP, data and voice communications in the Asia-Pacific region. Verizon Business has also announced another major submarine cable build called the Europe India Gateway (EIG) cable. When completed in 2010, the EIG will provide multinational customers with high-speed routes that connect the United Kingdom and India and that support next-generation IP applications.

As a leader in global mesh networks, Verizon Business is the first to offer seven-way trans-oceanic mesh diversity across both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Meshing provides alternate paths for rerouting traffic in the event of a cable cut or network disruption. When a service interruption occurs and meshing is needed, the equipment housed in network buildings on land allows the rerouting of voice and data traffic within 50 to 100 milliseconds.