Cortex Networks Chooses Ixia's Gigabit Ethernet Technology

OTTAWA, CANADA -- Telecom Ottawa Limited, a broadband data utility serving the Ottawa region, today announced that its all-optical, next-generation Ethernet-based network became operational following a rigorous testing and verification trial conducted by Cortex Networks, an international leader in the field of evaluating carrier-class networks. Cortex Networks selected Ixia (Nasdaq:XXIA), of Calabasas, California, leaders in multi-port traffic generators and performance analysis for data communication networks, as the third party test tool best suited to assess the tremendous capacity of this 10-gigabit optical Ethernet broadband network. The results of internal testing and the Cortex trial -- completed over a two-month period -- were announced at an event held to celebrate the business launch of Telecom Ottawa, attended by leaders from the Ottawa community, including Mayor Chiarelli. Said Dave Dobbin, executive vice president, Telecom Ottawa, "Our goal is to be a leading provider of affordable broadband data capacity in the Ottawa region. With our network having the Cortex Networks `seal of approval,' we've now got independent verification that confirms we have an asset -- an incredible asset -- to significantly improve the economics and delivery of broadband capacity to the many organizations in the Ottawa region that need to be better, and more affordably, connected." Leveraging this all-optical backbone and its next generation Ethernet capabilities, Dobbin said the Telecom Ottawa network would provide customers with guaranteed levels of affordable broadband data capacity. "In addition to affordability, customers are looking for guaranteed capacity -- as opposed to sourcing bandwidth on a `best efforts' basis. We believe there's a gap in the market for customers seeking affordability and guaranteed capacity. And we intend to provide it." The rigorous testing schedule was headed by Cortex Networks senior vice president, Chris Hardy, who said, "We put the network through its paces and it passed with flying colors. We chose Ixia because it met or exceeded all of the requirements we needed to execute our test plan. In the end, selecting Ixia's test tools was without doubt, the best decision. The ease with which we could conduct testing combined with Ixia's extensive report generation capabilities allowed our team to focus on analyzing results." Visit www.ixiacom.com for more information.