Verizon begins major push into enterprise market

Verizon Communications will announce later today an aggressive push into the enterprise market it long has coveted. The carrier’s plans call for the development of new data and IP services specifically targeted to enterprises – including IP VPN services – and the buildout of a nationwide IP backbone.

While Verizon has been careful to keep a lid on its plans, industry sources said the initiative would consist of two phases. The first, which would begin immediately, would shore up the carrier’s service delivery capabilities along the “I-95” corridor in the northeast.

The second phase, which would begin as early as the second quarter of 2003, would link the small IP networks that currently exist in major metropolitan areas across the country, in what was the former GTE footprint. It is believed that Verizon would lease unlit fiber and deploy electronics where needed. According to sources, this long-haul component would be protocol indifferent, which would ease the burden of enterprise IT managers that have to network facilities in different parts of the country. Theoretically, Verizon’s network would do all of the required translation, making it “friendly” to both ends of the customer’s network.

Currently, Verizon’s annual enterprise revenue of $7.5 billion is third amongst carriers, but the RBOC ranks well behind market leader AT&T, whose enterprise revenues are estimated in the range of $26 billion to $30 billion. In between is WorldCom.

Holding Verizon back has been its inability to provide long-distance service across its footprint. That constriction will be history in a matter of weeks. After gaining FCC approval for Virginia last week, Verizon is authorized to provide long-distance in 11 states, and will file applications for Maryland, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., by the end of the year.

Adding the long-distance piece will allow a Verizon to create service bundles that will allow them to compete effectively with AT&T and WorldCom.

“We have the existing relationships with customers, a broad product portfolio and soon we will have all the necessary regulatory approvals to expand our reach,” said Edward F. McGuinness, senior vice president – marketing for Verizon’s enterprise solutions group.