Spirent Opens New LabSpirent Opens New Lab

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Spirent Communications, a wholly-owned business group of Spirent plc. (NYSE: SPM), and more than 150 leaders of industry, government and higher education today gathered at North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus for the opening of the CENTAUR Lab, one of the nation's most advanced networking laboratories. The lab will provide an opportunity for multiple private companies to work on projects and conduct research at the same time. It will also give the students and researchers at NC State immediate access to both the vendors and the lab's powerful equipment. The new 2,300 square foot facility is a collaborative effort of Spirent Communications, NC State, the North Carolina Networking Initiative and Internet2. Spirent provided the space and much of the equipment for the lab. At least 10 other major networking companies also contributed to the $4.5 million project. Molly Broad, president of the University of North Carolina and chair of the Internet2 Board of Trustees, NC State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and John Gallant, president and editorial director of Network World, participated in the opening event. CENTAUR Lab will serve as the new home of the North Carolina Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (NC-ITEC), a project under the NCNI umbrella, which provides testing and evaluation in support of the Internet2 Abilene backbone. The NC-ITEC is one of just two of its kind in the nation. Spirent Communications