Five months after announcing an ambitious plan to expand its high-speed data network nationally, Verizon Communications reported that 150 of the company's largest business customers have signed contracts for advanced services provided over the network. In the first phase of the expansion, Verizon built out infrastructure throughout the Northeastern US, specifically to connect states such as New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, among others. In Q1, Verizon added long-distance connections in the Northeast for its Regional Frame Relay, SONET and ATM services. These long distance services are now available across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, and the District of Columbia. In the coming months, Verizon plans to extend its services to more cities along the I-95 corridor and add MPLS support. Additional regional offerings will include Transparent Local Area Networking Service (TLS)/Ethernet, IP and optical networking services.
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- In November 2002, Verizon launched an initiative to deliver long distance data services to large enterprises and government agencies. The company had recently been granted FCC permission to offer long-distance voice and data service to roughly 90% of its customers. Verizon said its Enterprise Advance initiative will create a network with national reach. The new enterprise services arsenal will include transparent LAN, fast packet and IP services, optical networking and voice switching enhancements. The service will be based on an optical and IP backbone providing "any-to-any" transmission. Verizon initially is targeting business and government customers in the Northeast's I-95 corridor, reaching from Boston to Virginia. Verizon will then build out its IP backbone to further connect its national service territory in locations such as Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle and Tampa. Verizon's Enterprise Advance will extend to 56 key US markets.
In July 2002, Verizon Communications decided not to reintegrate Genuity as part of the company. Genuity was created in 2000 when GTE Internetworking spun-off into an independent company as a condition for the approval of the merger between GTE and Bell Atlantic (now Verizon).
