News for and about the Internet2 community

[Greg Wood <>]

MERITON NETWORKS BECOMES INTERNET2 CORPORATE PARTNER

Leading Optical Network Technology Provider to Extend Leadership and
Technical Expertise To Advanced Networking Consortium

ANN ARBOR, MI and OTTAWA, CANADA - FEBRUARY 6, 2006 - Internet2 today
announced it is partnering with Meriton Networks, a leading-provider of
optical networking technologies, to develop and deploy leading-edge  
network
services and capabilities that will contribute to the creation of
next-generation Internet architectures and enable the most advanced  
network
applications.

Meriton Networks' focus on breakthrough technologies to support
high-performance networking will play a key role in Internet2's Hybrid
Optical and Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) project by providing the
capabilities that enable revolutionary network architectures. HOPI is
providing the Internet2 community with the experience in deploying  
scalable
networking capabilities that advanced network applications increasingly
require.

"Through their partnership, Meriton has extended their commitment to  
provide
leadership and expertise within the Internet2 community," said Steve  
Cotter,
Internet2 director of network services. "Meriton's participation in HOPI
will help lay the foundation for the development of cutting-edge  
networking
technology with the potential to transform today's Internet."

The HOPI project has deployed a nationwide testbed infrastructure that
provides a model for production hybrid networking services. Meriton's
expertise in dynamically provisioning dedicated lightpaths, 40  
gigabit per
second networking and optical multicast complement the Internet2  
community's
goals of testing and deploying next generation networking technologies.

"Building the next Internet requires the most advanced, reliable and
respected technologies in the industry, and Meriton is excited to be
supporting Internet2's HOPI project," said Bill Gartner, chief operating
officer of Meriton Networks.

About Internet2(R)
Led by more than 200 U.S. universities working with industry and  
government,
Internet2 develops and deploys advanced network applications and
technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the  
creation of
tomorrow's Internet.  Internet2 recreates the partnerships among  
academia,
industry, and government that helped foster today's Internet in its  
infancy.
For more information, visit: www.internet2.edu.

About Meriton Networks Inc.
Meriton Networks Inc. has developed the industry's first unified end- 
to-end
Agile Optical Networking (AON) architecture, a crucial element for  
carrier
and enterprise migration to next-generation IP services networks. A
flexible, scalable, future proof infrastructure capable of multi- 
mission,
multi-topology support, the Meriton AON architecture equips
telecommunications networks with the capabilities needed for the  
Broadband
Revolution, including rapid service deployment with one-time node
engineering and zero-touch, automated provisioning under a unified  
control
plane. With metro access, metro core and regional extension products,  
all
fully managed by a best-in-class suite of network planning and  
management
tools, Meriton Networks gives network operators a single source for the
rapid, cost-effective delivery of high-speed services. For more  
information,
please visit <http://www.meriton.com>.

Meriton Networks, the Meriton Networks logo, MeritonCare, Out-of-the-box
WDM, VersiColor, VersiNET, Mix and Match Optical Layer Protection,  
and ADM
on a wavelength are registered trademarks of Meriton Networks Inc. Other
trademarks that may be used in this document are property of their
respective owners.


Gwen Avery
+1.613.291.8602

Kathleen Keith
For Meriton North America
+1.707.529.4507


Andy Williams
For Meriton EMEA
+44 (0) 7785 370 507


Greg Wood
Internet2

+1-202-331-5360