KPNQwest Launches First Pan-European Feature-Rich IP-based VPN - internet provider-based virtual private network introduced - Brief Article

ISP Business, Oct, 2000

KPNQwest, the European data communications company, launched the first pan-European feature-rich IP-based VPN (Virtual Private Network) service to the corporate market. As well as providing built-in security solutions and guaranteed service levels, the KPNQwest IP VPN offers managed routers, managed firewalls, ISDN backup, secure Internet access, and 7 x 24 customer support. In addition, KPNQwest's IP VPN provides secure remote access into corporate IP VPN networks from 7500 PoPs, in 150 countries via analogue, ISDN, and GSM phone connections. The IP VPN service is supplied via 300 fully-owned PoPs (Points of Presence) in 19 European countries on KPNQwest's 20,000 km EuroRings fiber optic network, with seamless transatlantic connectivity to the Qwest network in North America.

The KPNQwest service is the first European-led global IP VPN and sets the benchmark for a new innovative and cost-effective era in European corporate networking. It will enable customers to migrate quickly and easily from traditional mixed WAN (Wide Area Network) solutions such as Frame Relay and multiple national ISP connections, to an integrated, secure, standards-based environment for intranet/extranet solutions with unified billing for all data, voice, and multimedia requirements.

Key distinguishing features of the KPNQwest IP VPN service include: state-of-the-art firewall security service; end-to-end packet performance to guarantee the quality of end-user-to-application experience; integrated Internet access for both remote and office-based users; extended reach for VPN functionality outside the KPNQwest/Qwest IP network footprint. The VPN platform also supports innovative applications such as streaming video, multicasting, voice over IP, messaging/FTP, and e-commerce.

The new KPNQwest IP VPN service was just selected by Intershop, the global e-commerce software solutions provider based in San Francisco, for its European operations. In addition, several other high-profile companies have already begun using the new IP VPN service, including DBV-Winterthur, a leading insurance group in Germany, which is part of the international Credit Suisse Group, and Akerlund & Rausing Group, one of Europe's leading food packaging companies, which is part of the Ahlstrom Corp.