Verizon Business (formerly MCI) provides advanced voice, data, and Internet communications for the Commonwealth of Virginia Network (COVANET) initiative. COVANET is one of the most technologically advanced statewide networks in the country, designed to deliver advanced communications services to state agencies, local and county governments, public universities, and schools.

Through the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, Verizon Business provides the Commonwealth with an integrated data and voice communications network that takes advantage of Internet Protocol (IP) flexibility while serving as the advanced platform for Virginia's ongoing e-government initiatives. Using Verizon Business’s high performance Backbone Network Service (vBNS+), the Commonwealth of Virginia securely and reliably links state organizations together to enhance operational efficiencies and statewide communications.

COVANET is the latest chapter of a relationship between Verizon Business and the Commonwealth of Virginia that started in 1987 when the company first began providing voice services to the state. This relationship expanded in 1992 with the implementation of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Network (CTN), a private line data network. In 1994, Frame Relay service was added to the CTN contract. Today, COVANET offers all of these services as well as Internet and ATM services.