VeriSign Announces Intention to Locate Domain Name Service Internet Constellation Site in Beijing, China

Internet Constellation Site Will Become the 14th Such Global Site and Will Improve Response Time and User Experience for China's 56 Million Internet Users

HostReview.com
Thursday, February 19, 2004; 12:00 AM

BEIJING, China, February 19, 2004 - VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN - News), the leading provider of critical infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today announced its intention to deploy a new global Domain Name Service (DNS) Internet constellation site in the People's Republic of China. This site will be the fourteenth site in VeriSign's group of DNS Internet constellation sites around the world.

The announcement to locate a DNS Internet constellation site in China was made possible by the participation of the Ministry of Information Industry of the People's Republic of China (MII), which today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with VeriSign to locate the site in Beijing and provide greater reliability and efficiency to users in China.

"It is with great pleasure that we announce our intention to expand Internet infrastructure within China by supporting VeriSign's installation of a DNS Internet constellation site in China," said Xi Guohua, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Information of the People's Republic of China. "We are pleased to work with VeriSign, a company that is known and regarded as a leader in Internet innovation and growth, as we bring a DNS Internet constellation site to Beijing and further ensure the reliability, stability and efficiency of the Internet in China."

Internet traffic has been doubling every 12 to 18 months around the world, with growth in Asia surpassing every other region in the world. By adding a DNS Internet constellation site in China, in addition to the other sites around the world, VeriSign hopes to improve the Internet response time and reliability to Chinese users. As rapid growth in Internet usage continues, VeriSign expects to continue its strategy of supporting Internet stability, reliability and security by expanding the number of DNS Internet constellation sites around the world.

"We are very pleased to be making this significant contribution to advancing the Internet's global infrastructure by locating a DNS Internet constellation site in Beijing," said Rusty Lewis, executive vice president of VeriSign's Naming and Directory Services. "We look forward to working with Chinese officials on this important initiative."

The DNS Internet constellation site operated and managed by VeriSign, will contain an authoritative master list of all top-level and country-specific domain names and will provide the first line for resolution services required by Chinese users. Deployment is expected to be completed later in 2004.

As a provider of critical infrastructure services for the Internet, VeriSign processes over 10 billion interactions daily using its Advanced Transaction Look-Up and Signaling (ATLASTM) convergence platform. Companies around the world leverage this powerful and proven platform to support their mission-critical business applications across disparate networks, devices, and end points.

About Ministry of Information Industry of People's Republic of China
As an integral part of the State Council, the MII is a regulatory body in charge of the manufacture of electronic and information products, communications and the software industry, as well as the promotion of information of the national economy and social services in the country of the People's Republic of China.

About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), delivers critical infrastructure services that make the Internet and telecommunications networks more intelligent, reliable and secure. Every day VeriSign helps thousands of businesses and millions of consumers connect, communicate, and transact with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at http://www.verisign.com.