Virtela Recognized for Tradition of Innovation and Service Excellence by American Business Awards

Managed Network Service Provider Named Finalist for Two Elite Stevie Awards(SM)

DENVER, May 20 /PRNewswire/ — Virtela, the global network solutions company, was named a finalist in the Most Innovative Company and Best New Product or Service categories in the seventh annual American Business Awards (Stevie Awards). The Best New Service selection recognizes the 2008 launch of Virtela’s Secure Video Extranet Service, which resolves the network quality and security concerns associated with videoconferencing across different carrier networks.

The American Business Awards are the nation’s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit entries to the ABAs – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. This is the fifth consecutive year that Virtela has earned finalist honors in the competition, which received over 2,600 entries.

“Virtela’s innovative delivery model transforms the way businesses IT, delivering more network for less upfront expense with an approach that’s uniquely focused on their specific needs and corporate objectives,” said Virtela CEO Steve King. “The market has responded with growing demand for Virtela’s services, and we’re honored that the American Business Awards have recognized our innovation as well.”

The Most Innovative Company nod honors Virtela’s continued tradition of moving the industry forward with new ways of delivering services. Virtela’s innovation is built on the foundation of its hybrid-virtual network operator (VNO) model, which merges best-of-breed network partnerships with proprietary Regional Policy Centers to offer both broad reach and deep reliability. Today, Virtela is creating a new paradigm for networking with its Network as a Service (NaaS) model, which applies the on-demand approach to network services, delivering superior connectivity when, where, and how customers demand it.

Virtela’s Secure Video Extranet service is the latest demonstration of the company’s commitment to innovation. The service overcomes the bandwidth strain and security concerns associated with use of videoconferencing and telepresence applications across disparate provider networks. Virtela enables companies to realize the full economic, environmental and productivity benefits of videoconferencing with their partners by enabling communication beyond the limits of a single network.

“Despite very tough economic conditions, many organizations and individuals continue to perform well,” said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of The Stevie Awards. “The results of the 2009 ABAs thus far are a testament to the resilience, creativity, and hard work of American organizations, executives, and workers.”

Stevie Award winners will be announced during the annual gala on Monday, June 22 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

About Virtela

Virtela Communications Inc. delivers award-winning network and security solutions to many of the world’s largest and fastest-growing multinational companies. Currently serving customers across six continents, Virtela’s network reach spans more than 190 countries. Virtela’s unique Global Service Fabric(SM) offers the foundation for delivering critical applications via the company’s acclaimed service methodology, with a services suite that includes MPLS- and IP-based virtual private networks (VPNs), security services, remote monitoring and management of WAN/LAN infrastructure, and converged services (data, video, voice).

Virtela is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with redundant Network Operations Centers in Mumbai, India and Manila, Philippines. Virtela is a member of Juniper Networks’ (Nasdaq: JNPR) Managed Network Solutions Preferred Alliance Program. For more information, please call +1 (720) 475-4000 or visit www.virtela.com.

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, The Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Supporting sponsors of The 2009 American Business Awards include High Performance Technologies Inc., John Hancock, Lifelock, RCN Corporation, Softpro, and Ultimate Software. Media sponsor is the Business TalkRadio Network. Localization partner of the 2009 Stevie Awards is Lionbridge.

SOURCE Virtela Communications Inc.