PSINET: INTERNET SUPER CARRIER
E-Commerce Hosting Centers in 15 Countries on Four Continents Connected by a 3.2 Terabit Network
NEW YORK, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- PSINet Inc. (Nasdaq: PSIX), the first
and largest independent facilities based commercial Internet Service Provider
(ISP), today outlined its strategic direction for the 21st century and
announced major new agreements that position the company as an Internet Super
Carrier (ISC). Elements of an ISC include:
* E-Commerce Web Hosting Centers -- 20 centers with 1.5 million square
feet of revenue producing space in key financial and business centers
including New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Toronto,
Tokyo, Sao Paolo, Hong Kong.
* Extensive global distribution supported by 1,000 sales personnel, 2,500
value added resellers (VARs), systems integrators and Web design
professionals.
* One global brand name recognized for the services and applications
important to customers, supported by local language sales, provisioning
and service.
* Worldwide fiber networks and optronic equipment, company owned and
operated, capable of three terabits per second speeds and above.
"In 2000 and beyond, an ISC will combine all of these elements and more to
achieve high customer retention rates and strong margins in a non-regulated,
non-monopolized Internet era," said PSINet chairman and CEO William L.
Schrader. "The series of announcements being made here today serves as a
fundamental component of our strategy to construct a leading global Internet
Super Carrier, with the optimal infrastructure for E-Commerce transactions
supported by PSINet owned and operated fiber, hosting centers, and expert
staff, covering nearly 80% of the world's economic base. The plan involves a
multi-year, multi-billion dollar expansion of our infrastructure, setting the
standard for 21st century telecommunications, which itself may become the
largest sector of the global economy."
Investment Disclosures:
* Reaffirming an earlier commitment, PSINet will build a record 21+ global
hosting centers worldwide by the end of 2000, with plans for more than
60. As part of this plan, Schrader disclosed the opening of a new
state-of-the-art hosting center at 33 Whitehall St. in lower Manhattan.
The center houses a POP on PSINet's fiber, customer web hosting and
collocation facilities, and a network operations center.
* To support New York traffic, PSINet noted it has signed an agreement,
subject to regulatory approval, for a major Manhattan supplier to
provide, among other services, Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Loop
(SDSL) high speed, local transmission services in New York City. The
service will be provided on a PSINet-dedicated and controlled network
connecting company customers to the 33 Whitehall St. POP. The local
loop network will consist of an 11 node OC-48 SONET ring in Manhattan
covering multiple central offices serving prime New York business
customers. Approval is anticipated in the fourth quarter of 1999.
* An agreement was also announced in which PSINet acquired 16 dark fibers
across the U.S. from IXC Communications (Nasdaq: IIXC). The initial
deployment of optronic equipment to light 4 dark fibers, which are
currently available, begins immediately and is expected to be completed
late in 2000. The first 4-fiber system covers 13,900 route miles and
the entire continental U.S. Concurrent with this transaction, a
significant partnership agreement was also disclosed for the purchase of
optronics from Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) -- to light the fiber with
Dense Wave Division Multiplexing technology, providing over a terabit
per second of capacity on each pair.
* Schrader additionally announced the proposed purchase of two diversely
routed fiber pairs on the FA-1 transatlantic cable system with a design
capacity of at least 800 Gigabits per second, with the initial lighting
at 40 Gigabits. The route is composed of ten segments connecting New
York, Paris and London. FA-1 is scheduled for activation in the first
quarter of 2001. PSINet's US and European dark fiber networks,
connected by the Atlantic fiber, are the largest such infrastructure
deployments dedicated to IP services on their respective continents.
* PSINet further revealed it has completed an agreement with Loral Orion,
Inc., a Loral Space & Communications Company (NYSE: LOR), under which it
has purchased satellite transponder and earth station equipment for
implementation of PSINet's facilities based Latin American network.
This transaction permits PSINet to link its operations in Brazil, Latin
America's Southern Cone and, in the future, South Africa, directly into
PSINet's existing fiber network. The agreement also includes
portability rights allowing PSINet to re-allocate capacity to other
regions such as Eastern Europe, India, the Middle East and Africa as
PSINet develops these markets.
* PSINet also disclosed that it has filed for a license in Hong Kong for
the right to terminate a 320 Gigabit per second submarine cable system
connecting Hong Kong and Japan. PSINet owns a 20% interest in the
submarine cable consortium with activation expected in the second
quarter of 2001. The company plans to interconnect this system with its
previously announced ownership in the Japan-U.S. cable system connecting
Japan and the United States.
* PSINet also unveiled today a new Internet universal transit product that
connects all countries' IP traffic with each other for a single price.
It has global routing characteristics, a significant technological
advantage over competitors such as MCI WorldCom, Cable and Wireless
and Sprint.
"The operational features and infrastructure for tomorrow's communications
networks are being determined now," Schrader added. "The model put forth
today will set the pace for all other communications providers to follow under
what is clearly a global IP protocol."
More information on IXC can be found at www.ixc-comm.com; Nortel at
www.nortelnetworks.com; FA-1 at www.flagatlantic.com; and Loral Orion at
www.loralorion.com.
Headquartered in Herndon, VA, PSINet is an Internet Super Carrier offering
global E-commerce infrastructure and a full suite of retail and wholesale
Internet services through wholly-owned PSINet subsidiaries. Services are
provided on PSINet-owned and operated fiber, satellite, Web hosting and
switching facilities providing direct access in more than 800 metropolitan
areas in 21 countries on five continents. PSINet information can be obtained
by e-mail at info@psi.com, by accessing the Web site at psinet.com
or by calling in the U.S. 800-799-0676.
SOURCE PSINet Inc.
-0- 10/19/1999
/CONTACT: media, Bob Leahy, 703-375-1063, leahyr@psi.com or Reid Walker,
703-375-1103, rwalker@psi.com; or analyst, David Lerch, 703-375-1245,
lerchd@psi.com, all of PSINet Inc./
/Web site: ixc-comm.com
/Web site: nortelnetworks.com
/Web site: flagatlantic.com
/Web site: loralorion.com
/Web site: psinet.com
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