Point to point connectivity

Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO), the contracting arm of the Department of Defense (DoD)’s Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), has purchased point to point connectivity services from GTT to support their internal network infrastructure. DITCO-Scott (PL8)’s mission is to procure global net-centric capabilities to support our customers in the continental United States through innovative contracting. DITCO is responsible for the procurement of commercial Information Technology (IT) services and equipment required by DoD agencies and other U.S. Government agencies. http://www.disa.mil/.

$11.7 million on network

LGS, a subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent dedicated to serving the U.S. government community, has been awarded an $11.7 million delivery order, to provide network installation and integration and professional services for a communications infrastructure upgrade to the United States Department of the Army. The delivery order, which has a total potential value of $30.7 million if all options are exercised, will involve a variety of communications network projects at Fort Benning in Georgia. Fort Benning and its Infantry Center is one of the Army’s busiest installations, with more than 130,000 soldiers and civilians. The installation provides extensive training for soldiers and leaders for today’s combat situations while developing and planning for requirements for the future.

LGS will provide all labor, supervision, management, tools, materials, equipment, facilities, transportation and design to upgrade Fort Benning’s data network and perform tasks in preparation for Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). As a part of this process, Fort Benning will grow to accommodate operations of other bases that have closed. The LGS work includes the upgrading of four area distribution nodes, which serve as a main data communications hub, as well as wireless infrastructure to connect new buildings.

The delivery order award is under the Infrastructure Modernization (IMOD) contract and is in support of the Program Executive Office, Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program (I3MP) managed by the Project Manager, Network Service Center (NSC) at Fort Monmouth, N.J.

$1.3 million on education communication network

INX Inc has been awarded a $1.3 million contract by The State of New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) to implement an education communication network. The project will improve remote access to educational resources and connectivity to other educational entities. INX will design, implement, and maintain the communication network. (Jean Rightley, Superintendent of Education at CYFD.)

$17 million for Apriva software & support

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has awarded Apriva a five-year contract worth $17 million for Apriva software licenses, network equipment, third-party software, and outsourced network and help desk support for DISA’s secure wireless data and e-mail infrastructure. The contract includes the implementation and licensing of a second Apriva Gateway to provide geo-diverse failover support, the continuing license for the first Primary Apriva Gateway, wireless network services, data center services, and outsourced 24 X 7 operational management and help desk support for DISA’s entire Apriva Private Gateway infrastructure.

$3 million network

Boddie-Noell has renewed its EverWorX Managed Wide Area Network contract with Contingent Network Services. The estimated value is $3 million. Boddie-Noell (http://www.bneinc.com) is currently the largest Hardee’s franchisee in the U.S. with some 315 restaurant locations.

$1.75 million communication infrastructure upgrade

INX has been awarded a $1.75 million dollar contract from the Washington State Department of Ecology for a communication infrastructure upgrade. Washington State Department of Ecology ("Ecology") has awarded INX the contract to develop and design a new communications network. The network design is based on Cisco technology and Nexus Switches at the core to provide high-availability and redundancy to the network as well as a high level of resiliency at the edge. (Jim French, Ecology Network Manager said Washington State Department of Ecology.)

$250,000 monitoring and control project

State Government owned Maryland Public Television (“MPT”) has awarded Statmon Technologies their transmission systems monitoring and control project valued at approximately $250,000. The project encompasses seven transmission sites and one uplink facility at various locations across the State of Maryland as well as a Network Operations Center located in the Maryland Public Television facilities.

Oregon architectural and engineering services

Black & Veatch was selected by the state of Oregon to provide architectural and engineering services for the Oregon Wireless Interoperability Network (OWIN) project that is designed to enhance public safety. The OWIN project consolidates the Department of Oregon State Police, Department of Corrections, Department of Forestry and Department of Transportation radio systems into an up-to-date wireless public safety network. The system will replace outdated and aging infrastructure while complying with new Federal Communications Commission regulations requiring users of wideband radio to convert to narrowband technology before Jan. 1, 2013. (OWIN Director, Lindsay Ball.)

St Louis-based investment firm networks

Online investment firm Scottrade (http://www.scottrade.com/) has expanded the nationwide data and national network services it uses from Qwest Communications International Inc. with a new five-year agreement. St Louis-based Scottrade recently selected Qwest’s dedicated GeoMax and QWave data networking solutions to provide ultra secure, high-bandwidth data circuits connecting its new Phoenix-area data center to Scottrade headquarters in St. Louis. The company has more than 400 branch offices nationwide that use Qwest iQ Networking services based on MPLS technology for wide-area networking. (Ian Patterson, chief information officer, Scottrade.)

Infrastructure services for animal health company

Savvis, Inc., provider of outsourced internet infrastructure services for the enterprise, has an agreement to provide a range of services to Merial, a leading, innovation-driven animal health company. Under the terms of the three year, multimillion dollar agreement, Savvis will develop and deploy colocation and managed hosting, network and professional services, and managed security services for Merial’s global operations. (Mark Worrel, executive director, global infrastructure, Merial.)

$1.8 million on network forensics

Solera Networks, the provider of network forensics products and services, has been awarded a $1.8 million contract with “a major U.S. federal agency critical to the nation’s security.” The agency will use Solera Networks’ network forensics appliances as a component of their cyber security arsenal to enable a rapid response in the event of a breach or attack. Similar to camera surveillance at a bank, Solera Networks helps its customers access a complete trail of evidence for analysis if a network breach occurs, providing the ability for the customer to promptly respond to any event. http://www.soleranetworks.com.

State of Utah selects Qwest

The State of Utah (www.utah.gov) has chosen Qwest Communications International Inc. to deliver a cost-saving, converged voice and data network. With Qwest’s Ethernet solution, state and local government and businesses in Utah have access to additional bandwidth speeds to help satisfy increasing public demand for online services. Qwest began connecting 300 locations in Salt Lake City and along Utah’s Wasatch Front using Qwest’s Metro Optical Ethernet (QMOE) data networking platform. Thirty government sites have already been connected as part of the 3-year, $7.2 million agreement. (Stephen Fletcher, CIO, State of Utah.)

Exchange Connect platform for Hudson Fiber Network

Hudson Fiber Network (HFN) will launch Exchange Connect platform in Switch and Data’s North Bergen, NJ data center. Exchange Connect features 200 to 400-microsecond actual performance to the leading financial markets, including NYSE/SFTI, NASDAQ, BATS, and Direct Edge. With a guaranteed SLA of 750 microseconds, HFN announces that Exchange Connect sets a new industry performance milestone. “In an industry where microseconds matter, enabling clients to increase trade order fill ratios is at the forefront of our concerns,” said Brett Diamond, President of Hudson Fiber Network. Trade volume in April 2008 was seven billion trades per day, and a year later it has increased to 12 billion. In addition to sub-millisecond exchange access, Switch and Data’s site offers the financial community space and power to scale their operations to keep pace with this drastic increase in transaction volume. The 163,000sf North Bergen data center is built to Switch and Data’s latest high-performance standard and can support up to 200 watts/sf of power and cooling capacity.

Hudson Fiber Network was established in 2002 and has quickly become one of the premier Ethernet data providers in the U.S. offering Ethernet data and IP solutions for medium to large-sized global customers. HFN utilizes multiple carriers and a variety of networks, while providing consolidated invoices and a single point-of-contact for all Ethernet applications. The company’s vendor network targets data and Internet services on a worldwide level. Its 24/7 support team services customers’ telecom needs from basic Internet services to high-end Gigabit Ethernet and Wave networks. For more information on Hudson Fiber Network, please go to www.hudsonfiber.com.

High-speed connectivity for Commercial Lumber and Pallet Company

Commercial Lumber and Pallet Company (CLC), a manufacturer of new quality wooden pallets, has deployed MegaPath's Premium T1 service to deliver high-speed Internet connectivity for its locations in City of Industry and Beaumont, California. MegaPath's fully-managed service helps ensure that CLC's onsite staff can better serve customer requirements with consistent Internet access, while remote employees have reliable access to corporate applications and information. (Jeff Sano, Controller of CLC.)

$1.46 million on ultra long reach drivers

GigOptix Inc., a provider of electronic engines for the optically connected digital world, has booked a $1.46 million purchase order for its ultra long reach Mach-Zehnder Modulator (MZM) drivers. “Despite the difficult market conditions, we see a continued healthy demand for our long reach and ultra long reach drivers for terrestrial and undersea optical cable links greater than 500 km. Our drivers, with integrated encoders for 10Gb/s RZ and RZ-DPSK modulation formats, are valued for their superior performance and offer the best jitter specifications in the market,” states Padraig O’Mathuna, Director of Product Marketing at GigOptix. “This new order brings our expected 2009 sales to this customer to more than $3.5 million.”

Network infrastructure for Peabody Hotel Group

AFL Network Services, provider of integrated network solutions for the hospitality and telecommunications industry, has been selected to install network infrastructure as part of Peabody Hotel Group’s $450 million expansion of the Peabody Orlando. AFL will provide engineering support, materials, and installation for the voice, data and video networks. Given the high rate of leisure traffic and ranking as the nation’s No. 2 convention destination, Orlando has a reputation for some of the best hotels in the country. At the top of the list is the Peabody Hotel, one of the most luxurious sites in the city and neighbor to the Orange County Convention Center on International Drive. (Michael Craft, executive vice president and chief financial officer for the Peabody Hotel Group.)

Banks and merchants to avoid global network costs

The State Bank has gone live with the Bling Nation Community Payments Service, a contactless payments network that enables banks and merchants to avoid global network costs and keep money within the community through a secure local debit network. The bank markets the local payments network as an alternative to traditional payments networks and accompanying rewards program as Redi Pay Bling. Brad Rose, vice president of Information Technology and Security for The State Bank: “In a community of 8,000, there are five banks, including one national branch, and two credit unions. As a result, it is important for us to distinguish ourselves by offering our customers lower costs and increased security and convenience in making and accepting payments, while also driving local commerce.“

Network upgrade for Mizuno USA

Mizuno USA, a leading manufacturer of sports equipment and sportswear, has conducted a network upgrade using Brocade FastIron Power over Ethernet (PoE)-enabled and ServerIron application delivery switches. Mizuno’s new architecture enables efficient and advanced IP communication between geographically distributed campuses and product development groups, providing the foundation needed to manage and expand business operations. Parent company, Mizuno Corporation, designs and manufactures sports equipment and sportswear for recreational and professional athletes worldwide. Founded more than 100 years ago by Rihachi Mizuno in Osaka, Japan, the company has followed a product development strategy to create sporting goods with unique features and innovations that enhance athletic performance. (Keith Neely, vice president of Customer Support, Mizuno USA.)

Network at Quinnipiac University

Quinnipiac University will deploy 3Com’s H3C core-to-edge enterprise data networking solutions throughout its three-campus network that serves about 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff. The network and its applications resources will be managed by one of 3Com’s newest offerings, the H3C Intelligent Management Center (IMC), and secured using 3Com’s TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention System. Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution. The university enrolls 5,600 full-time undergraduate and 1,900 graduate students in 52 undergraduate and 19 graduate programs of study in its School of Business, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, College of Arts and Sciences and College of Professional Studies. Quinnipiac consistently ranks among the top universities with master’s programs www.quinnipiac.edu. (Fred Tarca, associate vice president, Information Services.)

Increased student access through network

The Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), one of four U.S. interstate compacts created to advance higher education through increased student access, research and policy analysis, and reduced administrative costs, has selected Juniper solutions for inclusion in the MHEC purchase order program. Through the MHEC contract, Juniper solutions in core routing, switching, and security will be available at rates discounted for higher education institutions, K-12 districts and schools, education-related non-profit organizations, cities, counties, local subdivisions, and state governments within MHEC’s 12-state membership. (Heath Hollenbeck, network engineer for the University of Nebraska.)