tw telecom Launches Ubiquitous Availability of National Ethernet Solution for Carriers

LITTLETON, Colo., Dec. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- tw telecom, (NASDAQ: TWTC) a leading provider of managed services, including Business Ethernet, converged and IP VPN solutions for enterprises throughout the U.S. and globally, today announced wide availability of its newest national Ethernet service solution, called E-Access or "One to Many" Ethernet.  This service is designed to provide ubiquitous Business Ethernet reach across the United States to thousands of enterprise customers and buildings through a single Ethernet connection scalable to 10 Gig.  tw telecom is the first to offer national E-Access Ethernet connectivity based on the new MEF 33 standards.

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tw telecom has teamed with Columbus Networks to offer the carrier an advanced resilient hub into a national footprint from their landing station in Miami.

"Our initial experience with tw telecom has enabled us to successfully connect to many U.S. customer locations from one network access point," said Peter Collins EVP and CTO of Columbus Networks.  "The uniqueness of E-Access provides us with additional seamless and scalable connectivity to extend our regional managed business solutions to customers with offices here in the USA." 

According to Nan Chen, President of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), MEF standards are designed to encourage development of ubiquitous Ethernet connectivity across the world.   "tw telecom's E-Access is an industry first in helping carriers reach thousands of enterprise buildings from one network access point instead of needing to have local network to network connections in each city or market." 

Through a single network connection in one location, tw telecom's Business Ethernet service is delivered to virtually any building or data center in the United States across
tw telecom's 75 market national foot print.  The E-Access solution, based on MEF-compliant Ethernet Access standards, provides ready-made infrastructure for carriers to quickly and easily reach their end user locations across a secure, scalable and trusted network. 

"E-Access with an external network to network interface (ENNI) provides carrier, application, and data center service providers with a single point of access into tw telecom's vast national Ethernet footprint," said Tom Marx, President of tw telecom's Wholesale Services.  "These providers are recognizing the need for a secure and scalable network as they roll out business critical applications to their customers.  Many of these carriers typically do not have their own network to connect everywhere they need to go.  They look to tw telecom to deliver secure, scalable and predictable network connections and solutions that help them deliver applications to their customers."

"With tw telecom's E-Access, customers can avoid capital investments, reduce operating costs and more easily manage their network capability," Marx said. 

About tw telecom
tw telecom, headquartered in Littleton, Colo., is a leading national provider of managed services, including Business Ethernet, converged and IP VPN solutions for enterprises throughout the U.S. and globally. tw telecom also delivers secure, scalable private connections for transport data networking, Internet access, voice, VPN, VoIP and security to large organizations and communications services companies. Employing a resilient fiber network infrastructure, robust product portfolio and its own Intelligent Network capabilities, tw telecom delivers customers overall economic value, an industry-leading quality service experience, and improved business productivity. Please visit www.twtelecom.com for more information.

About Columbus Networks
Columbus Networks is a wholesale communications service provider that offers advanced, high-speed bandwidth capacity to telecommunications companies and Internet Service Providers. Through the Columbus Business Solutions brand it also provides integrated telecom and IT solutions to the enterprise market. Columbus Networks operates the largest subsea fiber-optic communications network connecting the United States, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The company's undersea fiber-optic networks span more than 18,000 kilometers of cable routes including Americas Region Caribbean Optical-ring System (ARCOS-1), Colombia – Florida Express (CFX), EC-Link cable system, Fibralink and an ownership in the Maya consortium cable Columbus Networks is a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbus Communications based in Bridgetown, Barbados. Columbus Networks is based in North Miami Beach, Florida. For more information visit www.columbus-networks.com

SOURCE tw telecom