DSL.net Reach Agreement with ERG Transit Systems to Provide Services for WMATA

The DSL.net agreement with ERG involves more than 30 T-1 lines, as well as DS-3 lines, that will provide broadband service and redundant backup service to 16 locations and a command center for WMATA rail and bus services throughout Washington, D.C., and several surrounding counties. When fully operational late this year, the ERG smart-card fare-collection system will handle approximately 550 million transactions or more per year. Metrorail and Metrobus serve a population of 3.5 million within a 1,500 square-mile area. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Zone consists of the District of Columbia, the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun, and the political subdivisions of the Commonwealth of Virginia located within those cities, and the counties of Montgomery and Prince Georges in the State of Maryland and political subdivisions of the State of Maryland in those counties. Overall, 42 percent of those working in the center core -- Washington and parts of Arlington County -- use mass transit. ERG Group is the world leader in the development and supply of integrated fare management and software systems for the transit industry, and for its smart-card systems and services. The Group has installed systems in major cities such as Hong Kong, Melbourne, Rome, Singapore and San Francisco, with installations in progress in Stockholm, Sydney, Las Vegas, Seattle and Washington, D.C. ERG has delivered systems that support more than 20 million smart cards currently in circulation and handle approximately 5 billion transactions per year. ERG is an Australian-based company, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, with 900 employees in 11 countries.