Media Contacts:
Janis Cortese, CENIC, (714) 220-3454, jcortese@cenic.org

Jan Eveleth, Pacific Northwest Gigapop, (206) 221-2300, eveleth@pnw-gigapop.net

TRANSITRAIL ON THE MOVE: NATIONAL PEERING PROGRAM ANNOUNCES EAST COAST CONNECTION POINT

Other Institutions Can Anticipate Savings Such as Those Enjoyed By Major Utah Institutions and Oklahoma Network

Cypress, CA - March 26, 2007 - The Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) and Pacific Northwest Gigapop (PNWGP) today announced the expansion of the TransitRail national commodity peering program with the activation of a connection point in Ashburn, VA. The first TransitRail node to be activated east of the Mississippi, the Ashburn node has been put into service ahead of schedule and will soon be joined by a fifth node in Chicago, IL.

Together with the current nodes in Seattle, Sunnyvale, and Los Angeles, these two new connection points will give the TransitRail peering program a national footprint and enable research and education institutions to take advantage of low-cost network peering on a national scale. Already, the addition of the Ashburn node has enhanced the significant benefits available through participation in TransitRail.

The University of Utah and the Utah System of Higher Education are two of many participants that have seen significant benefits from TransitRail. "We are pleased that TransitRail now carries up to 50 percent of the commodity Internet traffic for Utah education. It is cost-effective and provides excellent performance. A high-demand connection that required 25 hops can now be made in just six. This collaboration with the Utah Education Network, Front Range GigaPop and other higher education partners provides economy and a high level of service to our stakeholders," said Steve Hess, CIO for the University of Utah and the Utah System of Higher Education.

To an institution concerned about the costs of their Internet connectivity, participating in TransitRail can spell significant savings over the higher-cost commodity Internet. Oklahoma's OneNet, a high-performance network dedicated to education and government, has been a participant in the TransitRail program since December 2006 and has seen cost savings and usage far beyond what they anticipated. They and other networks participate in TransitRail via their National LambdaRail (NLR) connection, leveraging NLR's cutting-edge national infrastructure.

TransitRail's U.S. footprint is connected by 10Gbps waves provided by National LambdaRail (NLR). Each TransitRail node will be connected to, and accessible at, NLR points of presence throughout the United States.

TransitRail peers with major ISPs, and its current participant base represents a substantial segment of the research and education community within the United States. TransitRail is available to any interested R&E network groups.

Both peers and participants are expected to grow significantly as TransitRail continues to expand its operations.

For more information about TransitRail, please contact info@transitrail.net.

About TransitRail

TransitRail is a national-level AUP-free commodity peering program jointly implemented and operated by CENIC and PNWGP in a consortia-type arrangement with TransitRail members. CENIC and PNWGP have significant individual and joint experience with peering facilities and existing relationships with prospective peering partners. Together, they have a combined track record of nearly 20 years of commodity peering activity.

Joint operations of a peering facility are not new to PNWGP and CENIC. Since 2004, they have successfully and jointly operated the extended R&E Pacific Wave peering facilities (Seattle, Sunnyvale and Los Angeles). Their working relationship is already well cemented with communications and processes that can be leveraged in support of TransitRail.

CENIC and PNWGP staff are experienced in all facets of peering: peering solicitations, contracts, policies, infrastructure, monitoring, reporting, routing, troubleshooting, NOC-related functions and participant support.

CENIC and PNWGP already have over 80 established peering relationships with major regional and national entities. A majority of CENIC's and PNWGP's existing commodity peers will all be available for participation in TransitRail.

More information about TransitRail can be found at http://www.transitrail.net/.

More information about CENIC can be found at http://www.cenic.org/.

More information about Pacific Northwest Gigapop can be found at http://www.pnwgp.net/.