ST. PETERSBURG -- Progress Telecom, a leading provider of broadband services, has announced that Atlantic.Net, one of the nation's fastest-growing private Internet service providers, has purchased the company's new Fast Ethernet service. Atlantic.Net worked with Progress Telecom to develop the initial product requirements and is now using the service to connect three Orlando metro sites to its new tier-one data center.

The order closely follows the launch of Progress Telecom's newly expanded Ethernet portfolio. Progress Telecom now can provide point-to-point, high speed Ethernet transport at rates ranging from 10Mbps to 1 Gbps, offering customers maximum flexibility. Services are offered throughout the company's expansive network, both metro and long haul.

"Our Ethernet services package, combining the simplicity of traditional Ethernet service with the speed and reliability of an optical network, is available throughout our extensive East Coast network, " said Ron Mudry, president and CEO. "We're delighted Atlantic.Net has signed on for Fast Ethernet, becoming the first company to take advantage of our expanded portfolio. Our Ethernet services are scaleable, giving our customers flexibility to grow bandwidth along with their businesses-quickly, simply and efficiently. We anticipate that the package will be popular with carriers, ISPs and ASPs, as well as high-end enterprises that face the need to transport large volumes of data."

The applications for Progress Telecom's Ethernet services are numerous, enabling high speed Internet access and interconnection between switches, as well as connectivity between data centers and carrier hotels. Notably, they provide cost-effective, reliable connectivity between Storage Area Networks within a metro. Such networks are growing rapidly.

"Progress Telecom's Fast Ethernet provides the perfect combination of decreased latency, improved speed, cost-effectiveness and a simpler configuration to accommodate our growth and to ease network management," said J. Neal Hiscock, Atlantic.Net's director of operations. "Atlantic.Net is a fast-growing, innovative technology company and has a large customer base with demanding bandwidth requirements. We are excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Progress Telecom team to develop this new product which is well-suited for our needs."

Progress Telecom's Ethernet services are backed by industry-leading Service Level Agreements (SLAs), including a network reliability of 99.9 percent. The company's hurricane-hardened Network Operations Center is fully redundant and staffed around the clock with highly trained and experienced technicians ensuring industry-leading trouble resolution and repair intervals.

Progress Telecom