Internap Expands with Toronto PNAP

Internap Network Services (IIP) has announced plans to expand market coverage by creating a Private Network Access Point (P-NAP) in Toronto. The expansion is part of the Atlanta-based company's growth strategy and marks its entrance into the Canadian market. Internap currently serves customers via international locations in Hong Kong, London, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and multiple U.S. cities.

The new Toronto P-NAP facility, expected for completion in the fourth quarter of 2006, will mirror the architecture used within the U.S., which directs traffic across multiple backbones for the fastest and best performing route. Canadian customers will be able to connect to a P-NAP via local loop or cross-connect within the same colocation space to gain access to Internap's reliable and optimized IP service to avoid congestion problems, performance degradations and outages.

"Given the opportunities presented by Canada's evolving landscape, as well as feedback from our existing customers, expanding our footprint into Toronto was a natural progression in our operational plan," said James P. DeBlasio, chief executive officer, Internap. "With the increased need for global networking, it is essential that Internap provide IP solutions that foster collaboration, drive innovation and help businesses grow."

Toronto serves as Canada's leading business hub and is the home of more nationally and internationally top-ranked companies than any other Canadian city. Toronto also has a significant presence within key Internap vertical markets such as retail, financial and high-tech sectors. According to the comScore World Metrix, which measures global Internet audience size and behavior, Canada was also among the top ten countries ranked by average hours spent online per visitor for March 2006.

"The Internet is spurring worldwide growth in new communications solutions," explains Ira Weinstein, a partner with Wainhouse Research. "The activation of Internap's Toronto P-NAP will give enterprises conducting business within Canada the opportunity to improve the performance of real-time applications, such as voice and video, using the company's carrier neutral network service offering."