BETHLEHEM, PA-August 29, 2000-FASTNET., (Nasdaq : FSST), an Internet service provider that offers businesses high-speed Internet access and a suite of enhanced products and services, today announced it has achieved Cisco Powered Network status.
FASTNET's dedicated Internet access, Total Managed Security (TMS) product, email-based unified messaging, virtual private networks, web hosting and colocation services are based on an end-to-end Cisco infrastructure and have therefore received the Cisco Powered Network designation. To build its Cisco Powered Network, FASTNET uses Cisco 7200 and Cisco 7500 series routers as customer premise equipment and also leases equipment from Cisco for use in FASTNET's Customer Network Facility (CNF) sites.
"We are pleased to welcome FASTNET Corporation into the Cisco Powered Network program. The Cisco Powered Network designation signals to FASTNET's customers that FASTNET is delivering its Internet connectivity and value-added services over reliable, high-performance and secure Cisco networking infrastructure," stated Kevin Outcalt, senior director of service provider marketing at Cisco.
Phillip Weller, FASTNET's CTO said, "With customers relying on us for high-speed Internet access and enhanced products and services, we could not run our business without the scalability and high availability that Cisco networking infrastructure delivers. As we continue to serve businesses by aggregating the very best of the global Internet backbone networks into secondary markets, we will continue to use Cisco infrastructure, making it much easier and less costly for businesses to acquire reliable, redundant, high-speed access to the Internet."
About FASTNET Corporation
FASTNET. is a business Internet service, web hosting and colocation provider based in Bethlehem, PA. The Company is building broadband infrastructure in high-growth secondary markets to provide high-speed, dedicated and reliable Internet and data communications services to small and medium sized enterprises (SME). These SME customers typically outsource most of their data communications needs to FASTNET and become long-term customers.
Over the past five years the Company has been providing Internet services to a growing number of customers that are located outside of the major markets, where businesses typically find it challenging to locate a single source solution for their Internet and data communications needs. FASTNET targets its selling and marketing to customers on a regional basis, through a central sales effort augmented by a regional or market-based sales and technical support team.
FASTNET's network architecture is designed around the Company's regionally placed Customer Network Facility (CNF) data centers. A CNF is a small, yet high capacity, data center with multiple high-speed connections to worldwide Internet backbones such as those operated by WorldCom, Sprint, and AT&T. This configuration allows its customers' connections to "multi-home" automatically to the global tier-one Internet backbones without the added hops or additional network overhead associated with many other designs. FASTNET CNF data centers enable the Company to provide cost effective Internet enabled services and closest-to-the-edge colocation and hosting products. Customers can connect to CNF data centers by any available carrier technology, such as classic Telco provided T1 - OC-3 services, frame relay, digital subscriber line ("DSL") services or wireless products.
FASTNET's regions are positioned in selected high-growth secondary markets, normally 20 to 50 miles outside of major metropolitan areas. FASTNET is building in new regions aggressively throughout the densely populated northeast portion of the U.S. as the company plans to expand nationwide.
The Company offers a suite of value added enhanced services to its directly connected customers, and in many cases, any business regardless of its Internet service provider. These services include the Company's Total Managed Security (TMS) product, a cost-effective electronic security solution that FASTNET monitors and manages 24 hours a day, email-based unified messaging, virtual private networks, web hosting and high performance colocation services.
The Company's common shares are listed on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "FSST." For more information on FASTNET, visit the Company's web site at www.fast.net or call 1-888-321-FAST.
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