Verio Launches Commercial North American IPv6 Gateway Services; IPv6 Adoption Plans Support Market Acceptance of the Next Generation Internet Technology [9th December 2003]

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec 9, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Verio, a subsidiary of NTT Communications (NTT Com) and a leader in global IP solutions, today announced availability of the first ever large-scale Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) commercial offering in North America. NTT/VERIO IPv6 Gateway Services, the next generation communication platform for Internet traffic, is available immediately to all customers via Network Services sales channels, including direct sales to users or through the viaVerio Partner Program.

NTT/VERIO IPv6 Gateway Services, delivered over the newly upgraded NTT/VERIO Global IP Network, consists of three different solutions: IPv6 Native Service offers customers a dedicated IPv6 connection, while IPv6 Tunneling Service uses an existing IPv4 connection. The third solution, IPv6 Dual Stack Services, delivers a balance of both native and tunneling services. Verio has seen interest in IPv6 Gateway Services from downstream Internet Service Providers, universities, research institutions, next generation application providers and organizations that focus on wireless technologies.

Verio's pre-commercial IPv6 service, offered earlier this year, will now migrate to a full commercial service with this launch. NTT/VERIO IPv6 Gateway Services offer customers many of the same features as IPv4 connectivity, including fixed or burstable bandwidth, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and Domain Name System (DNS). Additional future enhancements will allow customers to benefit from many features exclusive to IPv6, including augmented Virtual Private Network (VPN) product offerings. Unlike IPv4, enhanced capabilities allow for full integration of the IPsec framework in IPv6, enabling end-to-end, secure communications.

"We expect to see steadily increasing acceptance of IPv6 in North America, and the NTT/VERIO IPv6 Gateway Services offering will help ease the implementation of v6 for all Verio customers," said Yukimasa Ito, vice president of the Global IP Network for NTT Communications Corp. "The commercial rollout of IPv6 marks an important step toward more widespread adoption by universities and research institutions. Additionally, the offering will help to ensure the steady growth of the Internet, as well as help North America stay competitive globally as other countries continue their IPv6 implementations."

"In October of 2003, the North American IPv6 Task Force (NAv6TF) announced that North America's largest IPv6 pilot network, Moonv6, had been deployed to provide the North American market with strong validation for IPv6 through testing and demonstrating the technology's effectiveness under real-world conditions," said Jim Bound, chair of the North American IPv6 Task Force and the IPv6 Forum Technical Directorate.

"The participation of NTT in the Moonv6 event demonstrates a commitment to provide engineering resources to further the deployment experience of IPv6," said Ben Schultz, a managing engineer at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory. "NTT, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense and other service providers, gives Moonv6 realistic guidance in test item definitions and topology design."

Verio, the official provider of IPv6 connectivity to this week's U.S. IPv6 Summit 2003 in Arlington, Va., December 9-11, will offer all Summit attendees free IPv6 access while at the event. Executives from NTT Com and Verio will also be leading two conference sessions on the reach and capabilities of the NTT/VERIO Global IPv6 Backbone, as well as vision and business strategies for IPv6.

Availability

NTT/VERIO North American IPv6 Gateway Native, Tunneling and Dual Stack Services are available immediately to customers nationwide. More information on NTT/VERIO North American IPv6 Gateway Services can be found at www.verio.com/access/ipv6.cfm. Information on IPv6 Gateway Services offerings worldwide can be found at
http://www.nttverio.com/en_US/products/ products.cfm?product=ns_ipv6.

NTT Com and Verio IPv6 Gateway Services

NTT Com, Verio's parent company, is supporting Verio's IPv6 offering on its NTT/VERIO Global IPv6 backbone network, which is delivering commercial service in many countries in Asia-Pacific, including Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia; as well as Europe, including Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Spain. NTT Com, which currently provides IPv6 to approximately 500 customers around the globe, is the only commercial provider to offer IPv6 with such comprehensive, international coverage.

About Verio

Verio Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT Communications (NTT Com), which provides long distance and international telecommunications reaching over 200 countries worldwide. Verio is the world's largest operator of Web sites for businesses and a leading provider of global IP solutions. NTT Com and Verio market their global IP solutions under the NTT/VERIO brand. The company offers businesses a broad range of Internet services, including Web hosting, dedicated access, virtual private networks, and managed service offerings, among other enhanced services. Verio supports its operations with highly reliable and scalable global infrastructure and systems including the NTT/VERIO Global IP Network, and provides Web hosting services to customers in more than 146 countries. The combination of Verio and NTT Com offers services to meet the growing and diverse needs of all businesses, including small to medium businesses, large global enterprises and multi-national corporations. More information can be found at www.verio.com and www.ntt.com/index-e.html.

SOURCE: NTT/VERIO

Verio Inc.
Marla Kramer, 703-333-6820
mkramer@verio.net
or
Text 100 for Verio
Nina Velasquez, 212-871-5173
ninav@text100.com