February 10, 2004 St. Petersburg, FL-- Progress Telecom, LLC, a broadband services provider, announced the expansion of its presence in northern Virginia, increasing metro access to Washington, DC and doubling its strategic points of presence (PoPs) in that key metro market from four to eight. Utilizing Progress Telecom's network, customers can now access premier peering hub connection facilities, including Switch and Data's PAIX (Peering and Internet eXchange) facility and the Equinix Internet Business Exchange center. The expansion responds to customer requests in this heavily trafficked market populated by corporations and government agencies.
"This important extension of our metro presence in northern Virginia is a natural step in Progress Telecom's success-based expansion model," said Ron Mudry, Progress Telecom's president and chief executive officer. "Progress Telecom is positioned to grow along with its customers -- bringing them access to quality services in high demand locations."
Progress Telecom's portfolio of wholesale broadband services, including its popular FlexBand packaging, will be available to customers from all of its Washington, DC-Virginia locations. "The northern Virginia expansion enhances our blend of metro, long haul and international service offerings," added Mudry. "Progress Telecom has the ability to provide express, point-to-point circuits between New York, Washington, DC, Miami, and Atlanta metro rings along highly popular East Coast routes."
Additional DWDM equipment, allowing increased traffic flow, was installed to support the expansion. Two diverse long haul routes feed the new Virginia facilities, providing increased reliability to customers. Progress Telecom customers also benefit from the company's speed to market 10-days on-net provisioning as well as flexible, customized solutions designed for their specific needs.
Progress Telecom, LLC combines the assets of Progress Telecom and EPIK Communications. The new company is one of the largest regional providers of broadband services in the eastern United States. The combined fiber network offers fast local loop, metro ring access with DWDM technology and a 10 gigabit, OC-192 IP backbone. Progress Telecom, LLC's robust long-haul and metro fiber transport from New York to Miami allows customers to gain access to international gateways and first, second, and third-tier markets. The company's network provides strategic POP locations in the eastern United States, including major international cable landing presence in south Florida. Broadband services offered include private line, wavelength, Ethernet, and Internet protocol (IP), as well as other customized services and solutions.
Progress Telecom, LLC is jointly owned by Progress Energy, a Fortune 250 diversified energy company headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., and Odyssey Telecorp, a telecommunications investment firm based in Palo Alto, CA.