October 18, 2002 -- Terremark Worldwide, Inc. today announced 13 new customers at its NAP of the Americas in Miami, along with a significant expansion by an existing customer.
The progress for Terremark's network access point (NAP) initiative comes as BellSouth has retreated from a competing Miami-area NAP, BellSouthMIX, refocusing those assets on a regional backbone for the Southeast.
Meanwhile, Terremark continues to work on shoring up its financial future. Last week the company said it will seek permission to issue as many as 100 million new shares of common stock.
"The growth of both new and existing customers within the NAP demonstrates that the need for our best-in-class infrastructure and superior outsourced managed services services is authentic and continues to intensify," said Manuel D. Medina, Chairman and CEO of Terremark Worldwide, Inc.
The new customers at the NAP of the Americas include NTT/Verio, WorldCom, Williams Communications, Bacardi, Navega.com, Boliviatel, Corporacion Andina de Fomento, El Salvador Network SA, E-xpedient, IM1 Webhosting, NUI Telecom and WebUseNet Corp.
Additionally, Latin American Nautilus USA, a customer since January, has significantly expanded its presence at the NAP, and has also retained an option for additional expansion within the facility.
Terremark has positioned itself to benefit from Internet growth in Latin America, with the Miami NAP serving as a gateway between those markets and the US. There are signs that strategy may
"We've seen a huge increase in Internet traffic from Latin America to Miami," said Alan Mauldin, a senior research analyst. "A lot of that traffic used to go through New York."
But, Maudlin noted, that doesn't mean the supply and demand are properly aligned.
"Princes are still falling dramatically in Latin America and Asia," noted Maudlin, who said the price of some benchmark bandwidth contracts between the US and Latin America had fallen as much as 80 percent in the past year.
The market challenges have apparently prompted BellSouthMIX to revamp its strategy for a South Florida NAP, instead focusing those assets on a regional network for Florida, Georgia and Louisiana known as the BellSouth Regional IP Backbone.
A third Miami exchange point, MiamiNAP, is operated by LayerOne in its facility at the carrier hotel at 36 N.E. 2nd St. The exchange includes about 60 members, according to LayerOne CEO Alexander Muse.
Both Terremark and BellSouth have historically downplayed the notion that their network access point initiatives were competing. But the change in strategy by BellSouth may simplify the choices for NAP prospects eyeing Miami.
The dueling initiatives emerged from a coalition of carriers and ISPs formed to create a NAP in South Florida's "Internet Coast," once home to more than 1,000 telecom firms. A split emerged over the best way to hurricane-proof the network access point.
BellSouth, which favored a multi-site approach, left the coalition in early 2000 and announced its own network access point initiative. Meanwhile, the NAP of the Americas coalition decided to house its equipment in Terremark's technology Center of the Americas in downtown Miami, with strong support from city civic leaders.
The NAP of the Americas is a Tier 1 network access point housed in the 750,000 square foot Technology Center of the Americas (TECOTA) in downtown Miami.