Verio Inc., the world's largest Web-hosting company and a subsidiary of NTT Communications, has been ranked the top performer under times of high network traffic in this year's Boardwatch Magazine/Keynote Systems Backbone Web Hosting Index.

As recently reported by Boardwatch Magazine in its annual comprehensive independent survey of U.S. backbone carriers, Verio logged a download time of .56 seconds under the stress of high traffic flows, leading the pack of 34 other Internet backbone providers. Verio scored second overall in another Boardwatch/Keynote backbone performance test measuring the average download time of Web pages located on the networks of the backbone providers. Verio's network download time was termed "impressive" by Boardwatch.

Other networks ranked include those of AT&T, Genuity, WorldCom and Cable & Wireless. The ranking is a compilation by Keynote Systems, an independent supplier of Internet performance data, of statistical material from testing agents all over the country. The Boardwatch/ Keynote index is an industry-standard ranking that provides a comparative shopping guide for companies evaluating Internet backbone services for their Web sites.

"We are pleased with the performance ranking achieved in this test," said Chris DeMarche, Verio's chief technical officer. "Verio continually strives to ensure that our IP network provides optimal traffic management and network performance to deliver content and applications around the world. Verio and NTT Communications' continued investment in our global network in the US, Asia and Europe further enables us to offer the most reliable and redundant network services to support our customers."