Englewood, Colo., February 19, 2003 - Verio, a leader in global IP solutions, today announced that NTT/VERIO PowerPlatform Hosting solutions have achieved certification under the SunToneSM Initiative. The NTT/VERIO PowerPlatform Hosting solutions are comprised of Verio's managed hosting products and services for midsize and large enterprises.

The SunTone Initiative, led by Sun Microsystems, Inc., is a collaborative industry effort to define best practices in order to measure solution providers' infrastructure, operational practices, hardware, software, and overall service delivery. SunTone certification provides a quality "seal of approval," confirming that NTT/VERIO PowerPlatform Hosting meets stringent scalability, availability, reliability and performance standards necessary for quality deployment of Web-based services or applications.

NTT/VERIO PowerPlatform Hosting incorporates three distinctive areas:

RapidRollout Solutions serve the entry-level dedicated market with a simplified menu of products and services from which to rapidly build solution architecture and service plans.
Modular Solutions target the mid-to-high end market and allow customers to create unique computing infrastructures that best meet their business needs while using NTT/VERIO standardized server configurations and services.
Colocation Solutions provide premier, highly resilient data center hosting space and bandwidth.

This certification means that NTT/VERIO PowerPlatform Hosting solutions are designed to meet customers' most critical needs for hosting solutions that fit their specifications, expand to meet future needs and provide around-the-clock system uptime and support.

"We congratulate NTT/VERIO PowerPlatform Hosting on earning SunTone certification," stated Stuart Wells, senior vice president, Market Development Organization, of Sun. "By achieving SunTone certification for its PowerPlatform Hosting, Verio has passed a rigorous review process and customers can be confident that NTT/VERIO PowerPlatform Hosting solutions are delivered and managed according to the industry best practices and policies of the SunTone Initiative."

"Customers demand considerable assurance that their service providers can effectively manage their business needs," said Isabel Ehringer, president of Verio's Enterprise Hosting Business Unit. "SunTone certification of PowerPlatform Hosting further demonstrates that Verio's hosting solutions have been qualified as world-class offerings, and enterprise-class customers should feel secure knowing that Verio is employing best-of-breed solutions for their businesses."

About The SunToneSM Initiative The SunTone Initiative, an industry effort led by Sun, provides specifications of best practices and policies, assessment and remediation consulting offerings and an audit and certification process, aimed at ensuring high quality network service delivery and management. For more information, www.sun.com/suntone.

About Verio Verio Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT Communications (NTT Com), which provides long distance and international telecommunications reaching over 200 countries worldwide. Verio is the world's largest operator of Web sites for businesses and a leading provider of global IP solutions. NTT Com and Verio market their global IP solutions under the NTT/VERIO brand. The company offers businesses a broad range of Internet services, including Web hosting, dedicated access, virtual private networks, and managed service offerings, among other enhanced services. Verio supports its operations with highly reliable and scalable global infrastructure and systems including the NTT/VERIO Global IP Network, and provides Web hosting services to customers in more than 170 countries. The combination of Verio and NTT Com offers services to meet the growing and diverse needs of all businesses, including small to medium businesses, large global enterprises and multi-national corporations. More information can be found at www.verio.com .

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, SunTone and the SunTone Certified logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.