Akamai and InterNAP Announce Strategic Alliance to Improve Web Site Performance



InterNAP to Resell Akamai's Content Delivery Network Services; Akamai to Collocate Edge Servers at InterNAP Service Points

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., and SEATTLE, WA December 14, 2000 - Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM), the leading Content Delivery Service Provider (CDSP), and InterNAP Network Services Corporation (Nasdaq: INAP), the leading intelligent routing services provider, announced today that the companies have entered into agreements expected to enhance their customers' Web site performance.

As part of the alliance, InterNAP becomes a reseller of Akamai's services that deliver Web content, streaming media and applications from a global network of servers located at the edges of the Internet near end-users. Akamai, already an important InterNAP customer, is significantly increasing its connectivity commitment to InterNAP and will be strategically collocating content delivery servers at InterNAP Service Points. The agreements are expected to result in faster and more reliable content delivery for InterNAP's and Akamai's customers' Web sites, and more efficient market access to the technologies offered by InterNAP and Akamai.

"This relationship makes perfect sense because of the close compatibility of the services that our two companies already provide to customers with demanding Web site and IP outsourcing requirements," said Tony Naughtin, president and CEO of InterNAP Network Services. "This is an important combination of the intelligent core and the smart edge for our customers. InterNAP's technology provides optimized performance through the Internet's core, while Akamai's technology represents a compelling method for enabling optimal delivery of Web content and applications at the edge for end-users. This alliance creates a powerful combination for CIOs who want greater manageability and control over their Internet data, and rapid, reliable delivery of Web content."

"Both companies have recognized that Internet performance can be dramatically improved," said Paul Sagan, president of Akamai. "Since Akamai is focused on content delivery, and not on hosting or network access, it is natural for us to team with a world-class network provider like InterNAP. Leading Web site operators recognize the need for both superior Internet connectivity and the best in edge content delivery, and this alliance enables InterNAP and Akamai to better meet the demands of our customers."

According to Zona Research, companies lose more than $4 billion annually due to slow Web sites that would-be visitors abandon after having to wait 8 seconds or longer. Research from JP Morgan estimates that the market for content delivery services will grow from $428 million this year to $24.6 billion by 2004.

As an Akamai reseller, InterNAP will offer Akamai's FreeFlowSM Service for content delivery, FreeFlowSM Streaming Service for broadcast-quality streaming media, FirstPointSM Service for global traffic management, and EdgeScapeSM Service for dynamic content delivery. These services optimize the delivery of rich and dynamic Web content and applications in a manner that is more reliable than serving all end-user requests from centralized locations. Akamai's global services provide Web businesses with dependable, high-performance delivery of rich Web content, streaming media and Internet applications through a scalable, easily implemented and easily managed solution by delivering content from a geographically distributed network of servers close to Internet users.

In addition to collocating its edge servers at InterNAP Service Points, Akamai will also increase its commitment to send traffic through InterNAP Service Points to take advantage of InterNAP's intelligent routing technology. InterNAP's connectivity service routes data to and from businesses across the Internet in a manner that minimizes data loss by avoiding the Internet's conventional traffic exchange process known as peering. Private and public peering arrangements between backbone providers not only result in congestion and packet loss, but also create routing inefficiencies, all of which are factors that significantly reduce the speed of data transmission across the Internet. InterNAP's Service Points and AssimilatorTM technology orchestrate the routing of mission-critical data in a faster, more reliable, and more managed fashion than conventional Internet connectivity technology.

About InterNAP
Founded in 1996 in Seattle, InterNAP provides Internet connectivity that is faster and more reliable than conventional Internet service. InterNAP's patented route management technology provides direct data transmission across the major Internet backbones through a single connection from a customer's network to one of InterNAP's Service Points. InterNAP's customers bypass congestion points on the Internet, avoiding packet loss, latency and other difficulties that can plague conventional Internet connectivity. InterNAP services are currently available in numerous key markets throughout the United States including Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Jose and Seattle. Major companies and networks served by InterNAP include The NASDAQ, Datek Online, Go2Net, ITXC, MindSpring, TheStreet.com, WebTV and many others. The InterNAP logo, InterNAP® and P-NAP® are registered trademarks of InterNAP. All other trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. For more information, visit www.InterNAP.com.

About Akamai
Akamai is the leading Content Delivery Service Provider, serving over 2,800 customers worldwide. Akamai has the broadest deployment of servers for content, streaming media, and applications delivery with more than 6,000 servers in 54 countries directly connected within 335 different telecommunications networks.

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"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results. Readers are referred to the documents filed by InterNAP with the SEC, specifically the most recent filings on Forms S-1 and S-3, and its periodic reports, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward- looking statements, including, among other things, the Company's history of operating losses and expected future losses, the Company's limited operating history, fluctuations in the Company's quarterly operating results, Internet infrastructure and regulatory changes, volatility of stock price, deployment of new Service Points, integration of acquired businesses and rapid technological and market change. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to InterNAP on the date hereof, and InterNAP assumes no obligation to update such statements.