Verizon Business Plays Key Role to Deliver Trans-Pacific Express Submarine Cable...

Verizon Business Plays Key Role to Deliver Trans-Pacific Express Submarine
Cable Network to Industry

Company Is U.S. Landing Party and Manages Network Operations Center for
Highest Capacity Cable System Between the United States and Mainland China

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- As a founding member of the
Trans-Pacific Express Cable Consortium, Verizon Business has played a key role
during the last two years in helping to design, engineer, build and prepare
the 18,000 kilometer (11,000 mile) Trans-Pacific Express cable network, which
is now ready for service. The TPE cable connects the United States to mainland
China, South Korea and Taiwan.
Teaming up with five other founding TPE Consortium members - China Telecom,
China, Netcom, China Unicom, Korea Telecom and Chunghwa Telecom (Taiwan) -
Verizon Business helped select the network route, coordinate the engineering
and design, and became the U.S. landing party by selecting Nedonna Beach,
Ore., as the U.S. landing site for the submarine cable. Verizon Business also
plays a critical role managing the TPE network operations center in the U.S.
"As the only U.S.-based founding member of the consortium, we were able to
help guide the direction of the TPE cable and provide all U.S. operational
needs for the TPE Consortium," said Ihab Tarazi, Verizon Business vice
president of global network planning.
"We have a dedicated group of Verizon Business engineers and submarine cable
experts who teamed with other consortium members to design, engineer and build
this entire cable system with our cable supplier in record time," he said.
"We are involved in more than 65 submarine cable systems around the world, but
this TPE cable network is one of the most aggressive submarine cable builds
we've worked on in the last 15 years."
The first TPE cable was placed in the water off the South Korean coast in
September 2007, and the final splice was completed in April 2008 allowing the
first light to be transmitted between Chongming, China and Nedonna Beach, Ore.
After extensive testing, the consortium today declared the system ready for
service. (See separate news release at http://www.verizonbusiness.com.)
Verizon Business' leadership in working on major submarine cable projects
provides numerous benefits to the company and its multinational business and
government customers.
"We are in a position to ensure suppliers meet our goals and provide a quality
system with an on-time delivery while also meeting the Verizon Business
network needs allowing our customers to take full advantage of the cable
system and the Verizon Business network," Tarazi said. "We designed this
system to connect directly to our Verizon Business ultra-long-haul and global
mesh networks to give our customers an industry leading experience."
As the TPE landing party in the U.S., Verizon Business also is responsible for
activities at the cable station in Oregon, on the U.S. network cable routes
and in the TPE network operations center, all of which allow the company to
provide a high level of network management functions for its customers. "With
the integration of cable station activities and the network operations center,
we are able to see everything that occurs on this TPE system and can provide
immediate action for our customers," Tarazi said.
The TPE cable is using the latest optical technology to provide greater
capacity at high speeds to meet the dramatic increase in demand for IP, data
and voice communications in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific countries. The
operating capacity of the system - the largest ever built directly between the
U.S. and mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan - is 3.2 terabits per second
(Tbps). With a minimum of 80 wavelengths per fiber, TPE has the highest
wave-density of any submarine cable in the world of this length.
The next planned phase of the TPE system, with the addition of NTT
Communications to the consortium, will provide new connections from Japan to
China, Taiwan and South Korea.
"We knew this TPE cable network would be important to the communications
industry and all companies expanding in the northern Asia growth region,"
Tarazi said. "Our customers will benefit from the increased capacity,
diversity and speed of this cable system."
(Click on the word "benefits" for more information on the Verizon Business
customer services and benefits.
[http://www.verizonbusiness.com/us/about/news/displaynews.xml?newsid=25175&mode=vzlong&lang=en&width=530])

About Verizon Business

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), operates the
world's most connected public IP network and uses its industry-leading
global-network capabilities to offer large-business and government customers
an unmatched combination of security, reliability and speed. The company
integrates advanced IP communications and information technology (IT) products
and services to deliver leading enterprise solutions including managed
services, security, mobility, collaboration and professional services. These
solutions power innovation and enable the company's customers to do business
better. For more information, visit http://www.verizonbusiness.com.

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SOURCE Verizon Business

Linda Laughlin, +1-918-590-5595, linda.laughlin@verizonbusinsess.com, or Jo
Perrin, +44-770-252-5868, jo.perrin@verizonbusiness.com, both of Verizon
Business