UltraDNS' Managed Domain Name Services Advance Global Resolution of .INFO Internet Names to Less Than 5 Minutes

SAN MATEO, Calif. and DUBLIN, Ireland -- September 3, 2002 -- UltraDNS Corporation, a leading directory infrastructure services provider, announced today that it was selected by Afilias Limited, a global provider of domain name registry services, to provide managed domain name services. UltraDNS will provide managed DNS for Afilias' global registry solutions for generic and country code top-level domains, including Afilias' flagship product .INFO. Linked to Afilias' advanced EPP-based registry system, UltraDNS enhances the speed of registration-to-resolution of .INFO names to less than 5 minutes.

UltraDNS and Afilias jointly commissioned Catbird Networks, a leading third party performance measurement company, to analyze registration-to-resolution time, or the time it takes for a domain name to be accessible by Internet browsers following registration. For comparison purposes, .INFO domain names were tested against both NeuStar managed .BIZ and Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) managed .ORG domain names. The study found that .INFO domain names resolved significantly faster than both .BIZ and .ORG, with a median time of about 2 minutes. This was more than twice as fast as .BIZ, which took a median time of approximately 6 minutes, and many times faster than .ORG, which had a median time of nearly 12.5 hours. This means that the owners of over 945,000 .INFO names are able to update their domain information to reach their constituencies faster than ever before.

"Afilias has integrated UltraDNS' outsourced managed DNS into its comprehensive platform of domain names registry services," said Ram Mohan, Chief Technology Officer for Afilias. "The addition of UltraDNS' managed DNS enhances Afilias' service offerings and helps us deliver continuous improvements to our fast, reliable and secure domain name registry technology."

Through this relationship, Afilias customers will benefit from UltraDNS' worldwide network of DNS servers that are instantly updated in real-time and provide the fastest domain resolution of its scale in the world. UltraDNS' proprietary network infrastructure-deployed globally across strategically located servers-delivers 100 percent reliable, stable and secure DNS, backed by a full service level guarantee providing a distinct advantage over domains supported by Berkeley Internet Domain Name (BIND) or BIND derived software implementations. UltraDNS' non-BIND name server software also improves security, a key advantage for Afilias' domains versus those supported by legacy DNS name server infrastructures.

".INFO is the most sought-after and successful new gTLD, and offers a truly global alternative to .COM," said Ben Petro, president and CEO of UltraDNS. "Leveraging UltraDNS' carrier-class DNS service, Afilias' TLDs, including .INFO, will now be able to provide customers with a bulletproof directory services infrastructure for deploying next-generation applications and services while ensuring reliability, security and 100 percent uptime."

Afilias has integrated UltraDNS' managed DNS into its package of registry services, providing a complete and flexible solution to manage any size TLD. Afilias' integration of UltraDNS' managed DNS will also ensure that those organizations that register and use .INFO extensions will be able to get their online presence up and globally resolvable within minutes of registration.