15 December 2003     

Telecom Italia Sparkle Deploys First U.S. Peering Point at Equinix New York Area Center

Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq:EQIX), the leading provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services, today announced that Telecom Italia Sparkle S.p.A. has deployed its global network to one of Equinix's New York area Internet Business Exchange(TM) (IBX(R)) centers. The move, a part of the Italian carrier's aggressive expansion in the North American market, will enable direct interconnection with the largest aggregation of networks, carriers and ISPs.
Telecom Italia Sparkle provides a variety of international network services to fixed line and mobile carriers and business customers, including voice, IP connectivity, managed bandwidth, hard patched transit, international private leased circuit, and managed data services. The carrier recently achieved Tier-1 network status in Europe and is currently expanding global operations.

Through the agreement with Equinix, Telecom Italia Sparkle will establish a network Point of Presence (POP) within Equinix's New York area center, enabling it to connect its global network directly to the wide variety of ISPs, carriers and other service providers operating at the center. The company will facilitate this interconnection through the Equinix GigE Exchange(TM) service, which provides an efficient means to interconnect with a large number of Internet companies for peering. By connecting with key partners through a central switching fabric within the same location, Telecom Italia Sparkle will greatly enhance the performance and reduce the costs of connecting with the partners whom they have previously connected via multiple, disparate locations.

"As Telecom Italia Sparkle continues the momentum of consolidating its leading role in the IP and data business, we are pursuing a global expansion strategy in which Equinix is a critical partner," said Stefano Mazzitelli, CEO of Telecom Italia Sparkle. "Its centers offer a one stop shop where we can directly peer with our strategic networking partners in the U.S. Additionally, Equinix's exchange services, such as Equinix GigE Exchange, greatly facilitate the execution of peering relationships."

"Telecom Italia Sparkle joins the leading international carriers, such as Japan Telecom, Asia Netcom, France Telecom and China Telecom, that have found Equinix centers to serve as ideal peering points to facilitate their connectivity with U.S. and global networks," said Peter Van Camp, CEO of Equinix. "The addition of Telecom Italia Sparkle to the IBX ecosystem also provides a strong option for existing IBX participants that are interested in leveraging a leading European network."

About Telecom Italia Sparkle

Telecom Italia Sparkle, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telecom Italia SpA, was established on January 1st, 2003 with the objective of developing and consolidating the Italian Group's international wholesale business. The Company is a global full service provider, offering a complete range of solutions in the field of voice services, IP, bandwidth and managed data services for multinational corporations. Telecom Italia Sparkle's worldwide bilateral network directly connects more than 220 countries over 360,000 km of submarine cables, and its cross-border proprietary network systems are deployed in Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and Latin America.

About Equinix

Equinix is the leading global provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services for enterprises, content companies, systems integrators and network services providers. Through the company's 14 Internet Business Exchange(TM) (IBX(R)) centers in five countries, customers can directly interconnect with every major global network and ISP for their critical peering, transit and traffic exchange requirements. These interconnection points facilitate the highest performance and growth of the Internet by serving as neutral and open marketplaces for Internet infrastructure services, allowing customers to expand their businesses while reducing costs.

Equinix and IBX are registered trademarks of Equinix, Inc. Internet Business Exchange is a trademark of Equinix, Inc.