Virtela Wins Network World Award

November 19, 2002 -- Managed IP VPN service provider Virtela Communications Inc. (Virtela.com) announced last week that it has received Network World’s 2002 “Category-Breaker” award, recognizing the company’s VPN service for innovation and quality of service.

The 2002 “Category-Breaker” award, says Virtela, honors new products and services that break market boundaries. Network World columnists pick one product they feel is particularly innovative and has potential to affect enterprise networks. Virtela’s product was picked for its unique multi-carrier approach.

"This multicarrier approach brings three fundamental benefits," wrote Network World columnist Steven Taylor. "First, because Virtela is buying bandwidth without the network infrastructure, it can offer the service at an attractive price. Second, the service switches let Virtela superimpose QoS with some strict service-level guarantees. Third, for those who are concerned about the future and stability of individual service providers, the multiprovider approach gives several back-up paths, insulating the customer from a single-carrier network failure."