Verizon Business Provides IP Platform to the Student Loans Company for Enhanced Internet Access and VoIP Services

Reading, England (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Solution Simplifies Network Architecture whilst Providing
Built-In Future-Proof Qualities

Verizon Business announced today that it has been selected by the
Student Loans Company Limited (SLC) to provide enhanced Internet
access enabling the deployment of voice-over-IP (VoIP) services.

SLC, a non-departmental public body wholly owned by the UK
government, administers student financial support to eligible
students in higher education in the United Kingdom.

Verizon is providing its Verizon Internet Dedicated service to
enhance access capabilities, and Verizon Private IP connectivity to
enable VoIP between SLC headquarters in Glasgow and two new sites in
Darlington and Colwyn Bay.

"We selected Verizon Business following a cost-benefit analysis
and because of its expertise in this vertical sector and its
leading-edge technology, which will support our new requirements and
provide an infrastructure to help us to provide the best possible
service to our customers and our partner organisations in student
finance," said Fraser Harris, ICT infrastructure support manager at
SLC. "Our IT systems, which have been independently evaluated as
leading examples of their kind, have enabled SLC to become a highly
automated and efficient organisation."

Verizon Business laid fibre cables to directly connect SLC's head
office in Glasgow, supplying 155Mbps MPLS connectivity and a 155Mbps,
tiered Internet service, which allows SLC to use capacity as needed.
The direct connection in Glasgow enables SLC to benefit from easy
provisioning of future services and upgrades, allowing for growth as
required.

Two new office sites in Darlington and Colwyn Bay were connected
to the SLC network using Verizon's MPLS technology, each with a
45Mbps MPLS connection and 4MB backup connection, providing the
company with a secure private network infrastructure. Part of the
installation also involved supplying the central document and large
volume mail-handling facility at Hillington, Glasgow with a 155Mbps
MPLS connection.

As business continuity is critical to SLC, Verizon Business also
supplied centralised access to the Internet to all SLC offices
UK-wide, including fail-over capability through the use of two
diverse 155Mbps pipes at the head office and Verizon's PoP (Point of
Presence) in Edinburgh.

"SLC tendered for a resilient infrastructure upgrade that had
built-in future-proof qualities and would ensure privacy and security
of sensitive financial data," commented Bob Yorke, regional vice
president sales UK and Ireland, for Verizon Business. Verizon Private
IP is built on a secure, future-proof MPLS backbone and provides
customers access to a flexible and easy-to-use QoS (Quality of
Service) scheme. With its SLA (Service Level Agreement) latency
guarantees, the solution also enables SLC to deploy its VoIP solution
between offices whilst benefiting from reducing overall costs,
simplifying the network infrastructure and increasing Internet
connectivity."

About Verizon Business

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is
a leading provider of advanced communications and information
technology (IT) solutions to large business and government customers
worldwide. Combining unsurpassed global network reach with advanced
technology and professional service capabilities, Verizon Business
delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers
around the world. For more information, visit
http://www.verizonbusiness.com

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive
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Web site: http://www.verizonbusiness.com
http://www.verizon.com/news

ots Originaltext: Verizon Business
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Contact:
Aislinn Ryan for Verizon Business, +44-118-905-7114, +44-7899664493,
aislinn.ryan@uk.verizonbusiness.com /Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html