US LEC MPLS VPN Network Near Completion
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Expansion to Gulf Coast and Mid-South markets extends IP-based service to more than 90 percent of network
CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 23 / -- US LEC Corp. (NASDAQ:CLEC), a full-service provider of IP, data and voice solutions to businesses and enterprise organizations throughout the Eastern United States, today announced the expansion of its MPLS VPN service to the cities and surrounding areas of Birmingham and Mobile, Ala., Memphis and Nashville, Tenn., and New Orleans, completing one of the final stages of the company's MPLS VPN roll-out.
"The expansion of MPLS VPN to the Mid-South and Gulf Coast regions continues our strategy of providing advanced IP-based solutions to meet our customers' needs," said US LEC CEO Aaron Cowell. "US LEC now provides MPLS VPN to 93 percent of its network, enabling nearly our entire footprint with next- generation IP-based data networking services."
US LEC's MPLS VPN breaks away from current generation ATM and Frame Relay "hub and spoke" designs and instead offers a fully meshed and routed network, improving security and survivability. With US LEC's MPLS network, no business location depends on a single "hub" or host for throughput and operation, allowing a network to survive even with a critical central location outage.
MPLS VPN also prioritizes specific application traffic such as VoIP or CRM applications, allowing important traffic to receive QoS (Quality of Service) guarantees according to customer requirements. Priority traffic travels over available bandwidth first; then, as prioritized traffic decreases, all other traffic uses available bandwidth, ensuring full use of the local loops at all times. By differentiating between classes of traffic, a business can better utilize its data network and reduce unnecessary costs associated with excess bandwidth investments. As bandwidth needs increase, customers can purchase incrementally and avoid costly upgrades.
The service can be scaled from fractional T1 speeds below 1.5 Megabits per second (Mbs) to DS3 (45 Mbs) to Ethernet Local Loop. US LEC offers both metro and wide-area networking options that allow customers to connect locally within a metro area or across large geographic distances.
In addition to Memphis and Nashville, the company now provides MPLS VPN to businesses in the East Tennessee cities of Bristol, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Johnson City, Kingsport and Knoxville, the Kentucky cities of Lexington, Louisville and Elizabethtown, and the Indiana cities of New Albany, Sellersburg and Clarksville. The addition of Birmingham, Mobile and New Orleans connects the Deep South section of US LEC's network and brings the total number of MPLS VPN-enabled switching centers to 25.
MPLS VPN-enabled cities include Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Ala., Charlotte, N.C., Chattanooga, Tenn., Fort Myers, Fla., Greensboro, N.C., Jacksonville, Fla., Knoxville, Tenn., Louisville, Ky., Memphis, Tenn., Miami, Mobile, Ala., Nashville, Tenn., New Orleans, Norfolk, Va., Orlando, Fla., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, N.C., Richmond, Va., Tampa, Fla., Washington, D.C. and West Palm Beach, Fla. The company will complete the roll out of MPLS VPN service to the remainder of its switching centers later this year.
About US LEC
Based in Charlotte, N.C., US LEC is a full service provider of IP, data and voice solutions to medium and large businesses and enterprise organizations throughout 16 Eastern states and the District of Columbia. US LEC offers advanced, IP-based, data and voice services such as MPLS VPN and Ethernet, as well as comprehensive Dynamic T(SM) VoIP-enabled services and features. The company also offers local and long distance services and data services such as frame relay, Multi-Link Frame Relay and ATM. US LEC provides a broad array of complementary services, including conferencing, data backup and recovery, data center services and Web hosting, as well as managed firewall and router services for advanced data networking. US LEC also offers selected voice services in 27 additional states and provides enhanced data services, selected Internet services and MegaPOP® (local dial-up Internet access for ISPs) nationwide. For more information about US LEC, visit uslec.com.
Source: US LEC Corp.
CONTACT: Media, Marisa Puthoff of Edelman Public Relations,
+1-404-262-3000, or marisa.puthoff@edelman.com ; or Corporate, Brian Crenshaw,
APR, +1-704-319-1942, or bcrenshaw@uslec.com , or Investor, James Stawski,
+1-704-319-1189, or jstawski@uslec.com , both of US LEC
Web site: http://uslec.com/
