StLouisNAP

Alex Muse amuse at layerone.com
Fri Dec 14 15:56:22 UTC 2001


I was sent the recent thread about LayerOne and the opening of the St. Louis NAP.  I read
the rules for posting and feel my explanation of our company and the StLouisNAP, while
somewhat self serving, is appropriate given the questions and answers posted to the list.

My name is Alexander Muse and I am the CEO of LayerOne and I thought I could answer most,
if not all, of your questions.  LayerOne provides two basic services, the first is network
interconnection/access between major carriers.  Today LayerOne interconnects the networks
of over 60 carriers including Verizon, Bell South, Southwestern Bell, Cable & Wireless,
Global Crossing, Worldcom, Qwest, and Williams.  Our second basic service is the license
of colocation space.  We build, on average, 10,000 square feet of data center space to
house the critical network elements of the carriers who utilize our interconnection
services.  We provide basic colocation services to Yahoo, Earthlink, Cox, Level (3),
Cogent, Telseon, Yipes, and Genuity.

Last year, as part of our nationwide expansion, we purchased a colocation facility that
was home to the MiamiNAP.  The MiamiNAP was built by former MFS DataNet employees and is
home to over 30 network providers.  In fact, StarTAP's StarLight Network utilizes the
facility as a stitch point.  The MiamiNAP was founded on the simple notion that a network
access point did not need a centralized switch or router.  When we purchased the site the
founders suggested that this premise was supported by the fact that traditional network
access points operated by MFS, PAIX, Ameritech, and PacBell have seen a sharp decline in
the percentage of total Internet traffic that traverses their equipment at a time when
Internet traffic has increased over a hundred times.  They claimed that private, bilateral
peering was the buzzword and that they had perfected the process.  Whether they were right
or wrong did not really matter to us as we simply wanted the facility.

We built our business within the carrier class facility that housed the MiamiNAP and
really left the NAP operation alone.  Earlier this year one of the NAPs founders indicated
that he wanted to expand the NAP idea into each of LayerOne's exchange facilities.  He
also concluded that a centralized fabric was an added benefit to the NAP and while not
replacing private bilateral connections, would offer an alternative solution to folks like
Yahoo! who were strongly suggesting that we offer a centralized fabric.  This was the
basis for the creation of the StLouisNAP.  The StLouisNAP is housed within our exchange
facility in St. Louis and will be publicly announced in January.  The NAP will focus on
its primary solution - bilateral peering, while offering a $2.0MM centralized peering
fabric with a bias for 10/100/1000 Ethernet interfaces as an alternative for those who
cannot afford or do not desire to create private solutions within the NAP.

If you have any more questions please email me or give me a call.

Regards,
Alexander Muse
CEO
LayerOne Holdings, Inc.
214-752-6204
amuse at layerone.com




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