BASKING RIDGE, N.J. (Map) - BASKING RIDGE, N.J., March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Focused on meeting the growing needs of its large-business and government customers worldwide, Verizon Business will expand its global network footprint in 2008 while it continues to invest in numerous network programs and enhancements around the world.

The Verizon Business global network serves 97 percent of the Fortune 500 and many U.S. government and state agencies. The company's global enterprise revenue base grew 3.1 percent in 2007 compared with 2006. Strategic services such as IP, Ethernet and managed services have been driving revenue growth, finishing 2007 with a 25 percent increase from fourth quarter 2006.

To meet the worldwide growth in voice, data and video services, Verizon Business' 2008 network expansion programs include a significant focus on China, India, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Canada. Additionally, global network enhancements are planned that will increase network capacity, decrease provisioning time, reduce latency (the time it takes for data sent from its entry point in the network to reach its destination), and improve reliability and efficiency.

"Our world-class network is the essential platform for global commerce and business," said

Fred Briggs, Verizon Business executive vice president of operations and technology. "As the world's leading companies grow their presence in the emerging market regions, they can rely on our continued network investment to support the critical business applications they're entrusting to our care. Our customers expect us to be where they need us, when they need us, and to offer our services and solutions regardless of the region of the world."

With decades of engineering and network-design expertise building and operating one of the largest facilities-based data and IP networks in the world, Verizon Business currently provides services in more than 2,700 cities and 150 countries, and is involved in more than 65 submarine cable systems around the world. The Verizon Business global IP network has also been ranked as the most-connected Internet backbone network, based on autonomous system connections, for nine consecutive years, according to TeleGeography, a research division of PriMetrica Inc.

"We're expanding and transforming what is already a leading global IP network," said Briggs. "As we expand our network into new growth regions, we're also moving deeper into countries where we offer services today. For example, one of the fastest-growing countries in the world is China, and we have expanded our capabilities and added significant capacity building on our strong partnerships with Chinese carriers."

In India, another fast-paced growth country, the company is currently implementing a diverse five-city IP, Ethernet and Global Data Link network in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad. Verizon Business recently received its international and national long-distance licenses (ILD/NLD) to offer advanced communications services to India-based and multinational companies with operations in India.

Responding to customer needs in Latin America, the company is adding multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) nodes in Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico. When completed, the network will support Private IP and Public IP services. Future phases including other services like Ethernet Virtual Private Line Services will be offered in these cities. Also in Brazil, another large market with high growth potential, Verizon Business recently completed an expansion of network capabilities by deploying Private IP, Public IP and Global Data Link nodes in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Global Data Link is a point-to-point full circuit private line service.

Verizon Business also is implementing national long-distance network expansions in Australia, building an optical backbone serving the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth; adding VoIP capabilities in Singapore and Hong Kong; and upgrading the network in Canada with a high-speed optical backbone in Toronto.

In addition to network expansion plans, Verizon Business will use 2008 capital dollars to fund innovative network programs that will enhance the operation of the network while providing many new customer benefits. Those network programs include:

-- Private IP Deployment -- Supporting Verizon Business' fastest-growing service already in more than 121 countries, the company will deploy MPLS nodes for additional PIP expansion to countries in the Middle East and Latin America. MPLS nodes also will be deployed for broader penetration in countries like India, Vietnam, Australia, South Africa and the U.S. -- Converged Packet Architecture -- After an aggressive 39-city, 18- country CPA deployment in 2007, Verizon Business will add multiple nodes in six more countries, including India, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Mexico and Canada, which will expand its global Ethernet footprint. Verizon Business already offers Ethernet access to Private IP in 40 countries and plans to reach more than 50 countries by year- end. CPA allows customers to move seamlessly from legacy time division multiplexing (TDM) to a packet-based technology resulting in improved efficiency. -- Submarine Cables -- With participation in more than 65 submarine cables in the world, the company is making additional investments in submarine cable capacity in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, India, the Middle East and Africa to support the growing needs of network requirements and deliver world-class performance. Verizon Business will activate in the third quarter the first submarine cable system with direct 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) wavelength access from the U.S. to mainland China. In addition to greater speed and capacity, the Trans-Pacific Express Cable will offer enhanced reliability by adding another major path and geographic diverse routing to the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region. With Verizon Business' longstanding leadership position in the submarine cable industry, the company is able to expedite use of multiple cables around the world during service interruptions. -- Optical Global Mesh -- As an industry leader implementing mesh architecture on its Atlantic and Pacific submarine cables routes in 2006 and 2007 respectively, Verizon Business will expand this optical mesh architecture into North America and North Asia. When the TPE cable in the Pacific is completed, the Pacific global mesh network will increase from five-way to seven-way diversity. The mesh network design creates additional paths for use in the event of multiple undersea breaks or network disruptions significantly enhancing reliability for customer voice, data, video and IP traffic. -- Ultra Long Haul -- Deployment of 2,000 additional ultra long haul (ULH) miles on the U.S. core backbone network and 1,940 miles on the European network will increase to more than 34,000 the ULH miles deployed on the global network, under a multiyear project. ULH reduces the number of network elements by 70 percent, allowing the network to operate more efficiently while enabling wavelength services. ULH provides customers with reduced provisioning times, improved reliability and lower latency. -- Deployment of ROADM (Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer) technology -- As more customers drive toward higher bandwidth requirements, ROADM technology is being used to remotely configure wavelengths on the network in local markets. The technology allows for faster provisioning and trouble isolation. Verizon Business will deploy ROADM technology in 19 U.S. markets this year. -- 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps technology -- Looking toward higher circuit speeds demanded by customers, Verizon Business will continue deploying 40 Gbps on network routes in the United States. At the same time, the company will continue its aggressive testing of 100 Gbps capabilities in efforts to move the industry toward production quality 100 Gbps in late 2009.

"Many of these network programs will help meet an important business objective for large-business customers -- low latency," Briggs said. "Very low latency and predictable latency are becoming real needs for large-business customers today. Low latency not only is an issue for the financial industry where one or two milliseconds can determine if an electronic trade is completed, but also for industries consolidating data centers around the world. We don't want our customers waiting for their data, and that is why we are heavily investing in network programs focused on driving lower latency."

Briggs added, "All of our investments in global network expansions, network projects and new technology reinforce our commitment to our large- business, multinational and government customers. Whether it's an end-to-end global solution or a stand-alone communications service, we are bringing the power of IP to bear in helping our customers do business better."

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 communications, security and other professional service capabilities, Verizon Business delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world. For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.