TransitRail on the Move: National Peering Program Announces East Coast Connection Point

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 is one of many particiants that has 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: www.transitrail.net
About OneNet: www.onenet.net
About NLR,Inc.: www.nlr.net
About CENIC:  www.cenic.org
About Pacific Northwest Gigapop: www.pnw-gigapop.net