December 20, 2001

Fusion Launches IP-VPN Commercial Service

On December 20, Fusion Communications Corporation submitted notice to the Minister of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications concerning the options and fees for IP-VPN (virtual private network) services.

Fusion launched the Fusion IP-VPN service on a trial basis in June of this year. The necessary verifications of functionality have been obtained, so trial services will be terminated on December 31 and commercial services launched in 2002.

Fusion IP-VPN uses a VPN format that adopts virtual router technology rather than the mainstream MPLS technology. As a result, network management loads for maintenance and operations, including IP address management, route modification, and responses to failures, are greatly reduced, making low-cost services possible. By enabling dynamic routing and eliminating address limitations, switchover procedures will be minimized even for companies that have installed frame relays, enabling them to switch to a low-cost, highly scalable IP-VPN service. In addition, since management burdens are minimized, even small and medium-sized companies can easily introduce IP-VPN.

Moreover, in preparation for the voice and data communications demand of more than one million subscriber lines, Fusion increased the capacity of its backbone Tokyo-Osaka line to 4.8 Gbps (two lines at 2.4 Gbps each) and increased the facilities at each of its network operating centers from two-way mirroring to four-way mirroring to create an even more reliable network.

Fusion is committed to providing not only telephone services based on an IP network but also data communications services, and plans to provide next-generation communications services that merge voice and data.