PSINet Covers 100% of Germany With Internet Local Dial Coverage
Becomes First Commercial Internet Service Provider to Use Telecom Deregulation for
Business Dial Access Throughout Germany
HERNDON, Va., March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- PSINet Inc. (Nasdaq: PSIX - news) announced today that its wholly owned German subsidiary has secured local calling rates for the entire country. For the first time, businesses in all cities in Germany have Internet access under a single access number at the price of a local call. Through this groundbreaking service from PSINet Germany GmbH, the business customer pays 8 Pfennigs ($.04US) per minute connection cost with billing charged to the nearest second.
In addition, PSINet Germany offers nationwide access charges for less than T-Online, the Internet service division of the mainly state-owned Deutsche Telekom. Beginning immediately, PSINet will offer its commercial local area network (LAN) interconnection services through nationwide digital ISDN 2B (128 kilobits per second) or 56k analog modems to all businesses in Germany.
Germany is the third-largest telecom market in the world behind the United States and the United Kingdom. In 1996, PSINet's wholly owned subsidiary in the UK, PSINet Ltd., began offering business dial access with a local call throughout 100% of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. In the United States, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, and France, PSINet offers commercial dial service at local calling rates in metropolitan areas covering approximately 80% of the business market.
PSINet is the first business data communication carrier using the new telecom deregulation law in Germany, effective since January 1, 1998, for nationwide Internet access. The deregulation allows private carriers, with
an interconnection agreement with Deutsche Telekom, to transfer any analog or digital phone, fax, and/or data connection from the public network to its own private network. As a result, connections from all over Germany can be routed directly into PSINet's Points of Presence (PoPs). The interconnection charges are fixed by the telecom regulation authority. This allows PSINet to offer the nationwide access service at a price level never seen before in Germany. PSINet Germany guarantees at least 99% availability for the access and for backbone network services.
''By this approach, PSINet is aggressively changing the way Internet services operate in Germany,'' said Helmut Blank, managing director of PSINet Germany GmbH. ''We are focusing on the PSINet backbone
design of Super-POPs while leveraging the existing voice-grade telecom networks.''
Commercial dial-up access for both LAN and host connections have been important for PSINet since it introduced the first such services available on the Internet in the early 1990s. PSINet's global dial services
include commercial roaming for business staff with laptop computers, multi-site secure office connections in many countries, and single small-office-home-office connections. ''Our goal is to cover at least 80% of the businesses with a local call in each country we serve,'' said Pete Wills, executive vice president and chief operating officer of PSINet, who is responsible for all global operations. ''At this time, we have five of the
largest telecommunications markets fairly well covered: US, Canada, Japan, UK and now Germany, and we will continue to expand as opportunities permit''. |
