News for and about the Internet2 community

["Gwen Avery" <>]

Title: Critical Link to the Internet2 Network Goes Live With Meriton Networks

New 10Gb/s Link Established Between Consortium Headquarters and Major R&E
Peering Site in Chicago; Link to Deliver Greater, More Flexible Bandwidth To
Facilitate Advanced Applications for the Internet2 Community

OTTAWA, CANADA, - NOVEMBER 16, 2006 - Meriton Networks, specialists in Agile
Optical Networking, today announced that Internet2 has deployed an important
new high-speed network link based on Meriton's advanced wavelength
networking systems. To fulfill the continually expanding - and unpredictable
- bandwidth needs of its more than 300 members in the research and education
community and to enable increasingly complex and sophisticated
communications services, Internet2 needed to add capacity and additional
flexibility to enable the best connectivity to its nationwide
infrastructure. The new link to the Internet2 network provides strategic
connectivity between Internet2's head office in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Level 3
Communications Point of Presence in Chicago and the StarLight international
exchange point site in Chicago. The installation of this network was a
collaborative initiative between Internet2, Meriton, Merit (the research and
education network connecting Michigan's public universities) and CANARIE
(Canada's advanced Internet development organization).

The link will enable regional and international network connectivity to
Internet2's new nationwide backbone network that is expected to be fully
operational on the Level 3 infrastructure in mid-2007. Today, Internet2's
members can leverage this connection for current collaborations and projects
that are helping to advance the development of new Internet infrastructure
and applications.  For instance, it will provide critical access between
Internet2's headquarters facility and the Hybrid Optical Packet
Infrastructure (HOPI) project, a national scale network testbed used by the
Internet2 community to investigate next-generation hybrid network
architectures. By extending GMPLS capabilities to provide high-speed
circuits, the Meriton equipment can provide network researchers
participating in the HOPI project the on-demand bandwidth capabilities
needed to understand and analyze this new dynamic infrastructure.

Internet2 deployed the Meriton 7200 OSP (Optical Switching Platform) because
it meets the organization's stringent technical and business requirements.
These requirements included:

- Scalable, cost-effective 10 Gb/s transport - the 7200 OSP is designed for
"high value without high costs," and the use of XFP pluggable optics
provides an affordable "pay as you grow" approach
- Multi-degree switching - the 7200 OSP is the only networking system that
offers up to 16 degrees of switching, made possible through its patented
switching architecture. As a result, the 7200 OSP fully supports ring
interconnection and enables the migration to mesh networking
- Future-proof investment protection - since the 7200 OSP is bit-rate and
protocol independent, Internet2 can easily add new services in the future.
With its transparent interfaces, the 7200 OSP is the strongest platform in
the industry for interoperability as a result of its inherent ability to
transport existing and future protocols across the network
- Excellent visibility - the architecture of the 7200 OSP provides
comprehensive performance monitoring statistics at every node in the
network, not just the end points
- Management simplicity - the advanced network planning and management
systems that complement the 7200 OSP allow networks to be rapidly planned,
deployed, operated and maintained

"The Internet2 community requires advanced networking gear that is both
economical and flexible, which the Meriton 7200 OSP provides.  Meriton's
technical roadmap aligns well with the Internet2 community's near-future
networking needs for flexible provisioning and enhanced bandwidth
capabilities," said Steve Cotter, director of network services for
Internet2. "With the excellent cooperation of all the organizations
involved, the deployment of the network link promises to be a valuable
resource for our community as we continue to lead the discovery of new
Internet innovations."

"Internet2 is one of the pre-eminent experts in high-speed networking, and
we are thrilled to have been selected and deployed for this mission-critical
connection," said Bill Gartner, chief operating officer of Meriton Networks.
"We look forward to working with Internet2 to offer our unique capabilities
to the rest of its research and education membership, and to enabling the
fulfillment of Internet2's goal of accelerating the creation of tomorrow's
Internet." 

About Internet2
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 supports the partnerships among academia,
industry, and government that helped foster today's Internet in its infancy.
For more information, visit: <http://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-service,
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.

Media Contacts:

Corporate
Gwen Avery, Meriton Networks
+1.613.270.9279; mobile: +1 613.291.8602

North America                                          
Kathleen Keith, for Meriton Networks                                   
+1 707.529.4507;

Europe
Andy Williams, Cohesive Communications
+44 (0) 1291 626200; mobile +44 (0) 7785 370 507

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