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SAN MATEO, California — July 25, 2002 — Keynote Systems (Nasdaq:KEYN), The Internet Performance Authority®, reported today that, so far, Internet performance shows no signs of performance degradation in light of WorldCom's recent bankruptcy filing on Sunday. Through UUNET and other subsidiaries, WorldCom (Nasdaq: WCOME, MCITE) is the world's largest carrier of Internet traffic. Keynote measures the pulse of the Internet 24 hours a day from 50 cities around the globe and has the ability to quickly detect degradation in Internet performance as experienced by end users.
Since WorldCom declared Bankruptcy concerns have been raised publicly regarding, what, if any, would be the affect on the Internet-using public. So far, Internet performance has remained steady, though businesses have been advised to have long-term contingency plans in place for back-up carriers should they be required.
According to the Keynote Business 40 Internet Performance Index, the industry standard benchmark for the overall health of the Internet, which measures the download speed of 40 important business Web sites over high speed T1 and T3 Internet connections, between June 24 and July 21, the average download times of the 40 Web sites fell between 1.52 and 2.56 seconds. On Monday, July 22, the first workday following WorldCom's Chapter 11 filing, the Index averaged 2.41 seconds. The measurement for the first workday following WorldCom's bankruptcy is an important distinction since Internet traffic is lighter during the weekend when WorldCom officially filed for bankruptcy. The reported averages are considered normal for Internet Web sites. To view Keynote's Internet Performance Indexes, click http://www.keynote.com/company/html/services.html.
"Because weekend Internet traffic is lighter than it is during the weekdays, businesses should find solace that on the first workday after WorldCom's filing, the Internet performed normally," said Eric Siegel, principal Internet consultant at Keynote. "In light of recent issues with ISPs, now is a good time for e-businesses to think about contingency plans for dealing with Internet instability. Having a direct connection to an alternate ISP already in place is one step businesses can take to minimize downtime if the primary network fails."
For regularly updated information on network performance (latency) between major backbones in the United States, visit Keynote's Internet Health Report at http://www.internethealthreport.com/.
"Instabilities in the Internet due to problems at any major ISP will cause congestion and delays for all Internet users, not just those who are direct customers of the ISP in trouble," added Siegel. "Keynote provides enterprise customers with accurate and timely information to manage the relationships with their ISPs, pinpoint and repair performance bottlenecks when they occur, reduce downtime, and deliver an optimal quality of service to end users."
About Keynote
Keynote Systems (Nasdaq "KEYN"), The Internet Performance Authority®, is the worldwide leader in Internet performance management services that improve the quality of e-business. Keynote's services enable corporate enterprises to benchmark, diagnose, test and manage their e-business systems both inside and outside the firewall. More than 2,400 corporate IT departments and 18,000 individual subscribers rely on the company's easy-to-use and cost-effective services to optimize revenues and reduce downtime costs without requiring additional complex and costly software implementations.
Keynote Systems, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company can be reached at www.keynote.com or by phone in the U.S. at 650-403-2400.
© 2002 Keynote Systems, Inc. The Internet Performance Authority is a registered trademark of Keynote in the United States and/or other countries.
Editorial Contact:
Jason Pfannenstiel, Keynote Systems, (650) 403-3246, jasonp@keynote.com