THE QUILT SIGNS AT&T AS A SELECT VENDOR FOR PARTICIPANTS

PITTSBURGH, PA – December 18, 2003 – The Quilt, a coalition of regional network organizations, today announced that through its Network Facilities project AT&T was signed as a select vendor to provide special discounts on Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks equipment and maintenance exclusively for Quilt participants and their members.

“We saw this as a real opportunity for Quilt participants to add value to their member institutions by aggregating their purchasing power through AT&T,” said Gwendolyn Huntoon, executive director of The Quilt.  “The select vendor program will allow authorized buyers at Quilt participant organizations and their members to receive the same special discounts.”

After an extensive, national review of several major network facilities providers, AT&T was signed as one of two select vendors because it met the project’s requirements of each having a comprehensive network delivery infrastructure and the ability to partner in the delivery and development of the Quilt’s research and education networks throughout the United States.

“We are very pleased that the Quilt has selected AT&T to provide network equipment to the nation’s colleges and universities,” said Chris Rooney, president of AT&T Sales.  “As one of the world’s largest buyers and users of networking equipment, we can leverage our extensive experience at procuring, deploying and operating Cisco and Juniper routers to help the Research & Education community achieve their mission of cost-effectively educating our citizens.”

The Network Facilities project was created to provide Quilt members with better pricing, management, service and support for network equipment and maintenance most widely used by Quilt participants, which are made up of institutions in the educational community including universities, non-profit organizations, community colleges and K-12 institutions.

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About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.

About The Quilt
The Quilt gathers more than 20 leading research and education networking organizations in the United States to promote consistent, reliable, interoperable and efficient advanced networking services that extend to the broadest possible community; and to represent common interests in the development and delivery of advanced network services.  Participants in The Quilt provide network service for more than 200 Internet2 universities and thousands of other educational institutions.  Internet2, a university-led research and development consortium, provides organizational support for The Quilt.  For more information, see: http://www.thequilt.net/.

CONTACT:
Michelle Pollak
Internet2
(202) 331-5345
mpollak@internet2.edu