Norlight and Merit Network, Inc. Complete Major Network Upgrade.Business/Technology Editors MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 8, 2002 Norlight Telecommunications, Inc., a Wisconsin-based provider of wholesale transport solutions and integrated data solutions, announced today the completion of a major network upgrade project with Michigan's leading Internet provider Internet provider - Internet Service Provider , Merit Network, Inc. Norlight completed the upgrade this month, which involved upgrading to custom designed OC-48 links, each capable of carrying 2.4 gigabits of data traffic per second. Merit provides Internet connectivity to all 13 of Michigan's publicly-funded universities and to Michigan community colleges, K-12 schools, libraries, state agencies and cultural and research organizations. Through the upgrade, these organizations will benefit from next-generation Internet applications and technologies, including high-quality interactive video, distance learning and real-time access to the world's most powerful scientific instruments. "We partnered with Merit and became involved in their network planning process, building customized solutions that other carriers weren't able or willing to build," said Ann Ballinger, vice president of carrier sales for Norlight. "These customized solutions are the byproduct by·prod·uct or by-prod·uct n. 1. Something produced in the making of something else. 2. A secondary result; a side effect. Noun 1. of the solid relationships Norlight forms with customers like Merit. Because many of Norlight's engineers, technicians and account executives have extensive careers at Norlight, they have been involved with the account planning "Account Planning is the discipline that brings the consumer into the process of developing advertising. To be truly effective, advertising must be both distinctive and relevant, and planning helps on both counts. with Merit since the inception of the relationship." Merit expects this upgrade to meet the growth of their customers for the next three years, and will invest $10 million in their network infrastructure over this period for the OC-48 upgrade and other improvements. Due to the custom design of the network, Merit will spend significantly less than other network configurations would require, and will benefit from greater bandwidth. "As Michigan's leading Internet provider, we need to stay at the forefront of Internet technology," said Scott Gerstenberger Merit's Director of MichNet. "Norlight helps us stay ahead of the pack due to their willingness to work as our partner and help us plan and implement a truly unique configuration for our network." According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Cindy Malley, Norlight's senior account manager of government services, Norlight was willing to experiment with ideas for Merit's network and initiated a partnership with equipment vendors and Merit to complete an end-to-end trial of services. "After Merit shared their vision for their network and for their current and future needs with Norlight, we would test different configurations to find the one that works the best. We then built their network based on these tests, ensuring that the configuration would work for them now and in the future." NORLIGHT TELECOMMUNICATIONS Norlight Telecommunications, Inc. is a full-service telecommunications provider of high quality, integrated communications solutions, and wholesale carrier transport solutions. Norlight has been serving their customers for 30 years and are headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin
Brookfield is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 38,649 at the 2000 census, but the city's population recently exceeded 40,000 people. . In addition to Norlight's Brookfield headquarters, the company has offices in Madison and Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The city is located at the head of its namesake Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. , Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana “Indianapolis” redirects here. For other uses, see Indianapolis (disambiguation). Indianapolis (IPA: [ˌɪndiəˈnæpəlɪs]) is the capital city of the U.S. , Lansing and Grand Rapids, Michigan “Grand Rapids” redirects here. For other uses, see Grand Rapids (disambiguation). Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 197,800. , and Minneapolis, Minnesota “Minneapolis” redirects here. For other uses, see Minneapolis (disambiguation). Minneapolis (pronounced IPA: /ˌmɪniˈæpəlɪs/) is the largest city in the U.S. . Norlight is a Journal Communications Journal Communications, Inc. NYSE: JRN is a a publicly traded media company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It publishes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a daily newspaper, and it also owns television stations, radio stations and weekly newspapers, among other company. Journal Communications has been an employee-owned communications company since 1937, and has operations in television and radio broadcasting, newspaper publishing, direct marketing, printing and telecommunications. Journal Communications employs over 6500 people worldwide. For more information, go to www.norlight.com. MERIT NETWORK, INC. Merit develops and promotes advanced Internet services for research and education. Merit's regional network in Michigan connects universities, community colleges, K-12 schools, libraries, state agencies, and cultural organizations. Through these organizations, Merit serves more than one million people in Michigan every day. Merit's engineering staff has earned international acclaim for its work. From 1987 to 1995, Merit developed and managed the NSFNET (National Science Foundation NETwork) The network funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, which linked five supercomputer sites across the country in the mid-1980s. Universities were also allowed to connect to it. , the national network that was the precursor to today's commercial Internet. Merit currently provides Internet2 access for organizations in Michigan and also develops tools and applications for online learning, including the Michigan Teacher Network (mtn.merit.edu) and Teach for Tomorrow (tft.merit.edu). Among Merit's contributions to Michigan's economic development are three spin off companies: Advanced Network & Services; NextHop Technologies, Inc.; and Interlink INTERLINK - A commercial product comprising hardware and software for file transfer between IBM and VAX computers. Networks, Inc. Merit was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI. For more information, visit www.merit.edu. For PDFs of the current and proposed MichNet Backbone maps, see http://www.merit.edu/michnet/maps. |
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