Texas A&M University faculty, students and administrators will benefit from the reliability and flexibility of advanced communications services provided by Verizon Business. Under a three-year, $20 million renewal of its master services agreement, Verizon Business will provide traditional voice and data network services, cabling, and managed services. Under separate agreements, Verizon Business will also migrate the majority of Texas A&M's operations to VoIP while also providing the university with advanced audio-conferencing services.

The agreements build on Verizon Business' decades-long relationship with one of Texas' flagship universities.

Verizon Business is currently working with the university on the first phase of installing VoIP to new buildings on campus. The university has a goal of installing 3,000 lines in a half dozen buildings this year and in about 10 more buildings targeted for next year. Ultimately, Verizon Business will help the university migrate the majority of its campus from its existing time division multiplex network to a next-generation VoIP platform.

"Our traditional copper infrastructure was more than 50 years old in some areas, and we needed a long-term solution," said Dr. Walt Magnussen, director for telecommunications at Texas A&M University. "By deploying state-of-the-art voice-over-IP technology, we can meet the long-term needs of students and faculty at the university for years to come."

As part of the upgrade of the campus infrastructure, Verizon Business will install advanced switching gear and provide on-site technical support, and managed and professional services.

The new converged VoIP platform can handle large amounts of traffic -- voice, data and video -- while eliminating the need for separate voice and data networks.