News for and about the Internet2 community

["Michelle Pollak" <>]

Title: I2-NEWS: The Quilt Signs Qwest as a Select Vendor for Participants

THE QUILT SIGNS QWEST AS A SELECT VENDOR FOR PARTICIPANTS

PITTSBURGH, PA – December 18, 2003 – The Quilt, a coalition of regional network organizations, today announced that through its Network Facilities project Qwest Communications was signed as a select vendor to provide special discounts on Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks equipment and maintenance exclusively for Quilt participants and their members.

“We saw this as a real opportunity for Quilt participants to add value to their member institutions by aggregating their purchasing power through Qwest,” said Gwendolyn Huntoon, executive director of The Quilt.  “The select vendor program will allow authorized buyers at Quilt participant organizations and their members to receive the same special discounts.”

After an extensive, national review of several major network facilities providers, Qwest was signed as one of two select vendors because it met the project’s requirements of each having a comprehensive network delivery infrastructure and the ability to partner in the delivery and development of the Quilt’s research and education networks throughout the United States.

Tom McGrath, Qwest vice president of Government and Education Solutions said, “I am extremely pleased that we are expanding our relationship with the Quilt.  Qwest has been a preferred provide of Internet service to the Quilt participants from the start and the fact that Qwest has been selected now as a preferred provider of Cisco and Juniper equipment highlights our continued dedication to the education market and to the Quilt in particular.”

The Network Facilities project was created to provide Quilt members with better pricing, management, service and support for network equipment and maintenance most widely used by Quilt participants, which are made up of institutions in the educational community including universities, non-profit organizations, community colleges and K-12 institutions.

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About Qwest
Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q) is a leading provider of voice, video and data services to more than 25 million customers.  The company’s 47,000 employees are committed to the “Spirit of Service” and providing world-class services that exceed customers’ expectations for quality, value and reliability.  For more information, please visit the Qwest Web site at www.qwest.com.

About The Quilt
The Quilt gathers more than 20 leading research and education networking organizations in the United States to promote consistent, reliable, interoperable and efficient advanced networking services that extend to the broadest possible community; and to represent common interests in the development and delivery of advanced network services.  Participants in The Quilt provide network service for more than 200 Internet2 universities and thousands of other educational institutions.  Internet2, a university-led research and development consortium, provides organizational support for The Quilt.  For more information, see: http://www.thequilt.net/.

CONTACT:
Michelle Pollak
Internet2
(202) 331-5345