ISWest Opens Pipeline for Internet Customers Seeking New Server Sites

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Jul 1, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- With Sprint Corp. and Cable & Wireless having announced their intent to sell or close their data centers across the United States, a grass-roots company is meeting the most demanding bandwidth needs of all businesses looking for new homes to host their servers.

ISWest recently installed a GigaMan, a 1.2-Gigabit, fiber optic fat pipe that enables the company to buy premium bandwidth from America's top 10 backbone providers.

Today the center is only half full, making way for the fall out of customers seeking a new server site.

Large international carrier Cable & Wireless (CWP) announced this summer its intention to sell or close its operation in the U.S. market. Sprint Corp. (FON) is also shutting down several Web- hosting data centers throughout the country.

While giant carriers were once believed to be the last ones standing in the race for bandwidth sales, trends show the opposite.

That's because smaller companies built their business the old fashioned way -- using cash flow to expand -- and only a judicious amount of borrowing, said David Simpson of Simpson Partners, who provides strategic consulting and legal services to independent Internet service providers.

"They stayed very close to their customers, learned what they needed and wanted and delivered it," Simpson said.

Quality of service, knowledge of the customer and an understanding of Internet technology are the attributes that make grass-roots companies so appealing, Simpson added.

"Most customers want to really know and trust the people to whom they entrust their servers," Simpson said. "A lot of big companies are unable to sustain a true level of care among their employees, and customers pick that up...companies like ISWest will continue to grow and thrive, because the Internet is continuing to grow and ISWest has demonstrated that it is a Class A company with excellent service."

In the Internet business since 1996, ISWest built a 10,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art data center and Network Operations Center for server co-location in 2001. The following year, the Los Angeles Business Journal named ISWest the 4th largest provider of business-class broadband connectivity and server co-location services to a variety of businesses.

A full, private locked cabinet with 1 Megabit of bandwidth -- and a dedicated 20AMP power circuit -- starts at $1,495 per month. The price drops as each client's bandwidth commitment grows.

ISWest is so confident in its connection services, the company offers a 500-percent credit for time lost.

"The service level agreement in our contract states that we will be up 99.99 percent of the time," said Drew Kaplan, vice president and director of sales and marketing for ISWest. "Our customers aren't just a number...we have a personal relationship with each and every one."

For more information or to conduct an interview, call Drew Kaplan at ISWest, 818/735-3000 or toll-free at 877/735-1500.