Juniper aims to reinvent Internet as infranet

Juniper Networks Wednesday unveiled a sweeping blueprint for a future communications grid that would be as global as the Internet but with the security of private networks run by many companies to protect trade secrets and secure transactions.

By Jim Christie, Reuters

Calling its vision of that next-generation system an "infranet," Juniper called on other network equipment vendors and telecommunications companies to work together on joint standards that would allow development work to begin.

Such a network, Juniper said, would allow telecom carriers to move out of the brutally competitive, low-margin business of transporting data and charge more for offering premium services such as security and the delivery of video.

Corporations, such as banks and others, would gain because they would be spared the cost of maintaining their own networks and could rent what they need, much as they pay for long-distance telephone service now.

With network breaches on the rise, security will be a top priority for network gear makers, telecom carriers and content providers who draw up standards for the proposed infranet, said Juniper Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Scott Kriens.

"The Internet has built widespread connectivity," but it lacks the kind of security measures that businesses, governments and consumers are demanding, Kriens said.

The Sunnyvale, California company, a distant rival to Cisco Systems in supplying the routers that direct Internet traffic, would stand to benefit from any new demand for its products if the initiative takes shape, analysts said.

But by staking out its vision of a more secure and stable global network, Juniper is also positioning itself to sell more outside its stronghold among telecom providers, said Mark Sue, an analyst with C.E. Unterberg, Towbin.

"I think what Juniper is trying to do, if you read between the lines, is expand its addressable audience to include enterprise customers, who require more reliable networks," Sue said. "Juniper is trying to increase its penetration into large institutions such as financial, manufacturing and energy."

Juniper said the term "infranet," refers to using Internet Protocol as a network infrastructure instead of a means for transmitting information such as e-mail.

The proposed infranet would be neither a public Internet nor a private network and each interconnected arm of it would be built independently by service providers, Juniper said.

For individual users, those connections would provide a sort of souped-up Internet, capable of carrying more data and with guaranteed performance for high-end applications, such as streaming video, Juniper said.

Lucent Technologies supports the infranet initiative, Kriens said.

Cisco spokeswoman Jeanette Gibson said it had no comment on the announcement.

Shares in Juniper fell 69 cents, or 3.9%, to close at $17.09 Wednesday on Nasdaq. The stock has gained about 161% since the start of the year.

Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited.