LAS VEGAS, NV -- CoreExpress Inc. http://www.coreexpress.net plans to announce a new type of extranet service today, one that would enable ISPs to offer users performance guarantees on connections that span other operator's networks.

The new service, called the Internet Data Exchange System, aims to provide more dependable connections for electronic commerce transactions between companies using different ISPs.

The idea is that the ISPs at either end of a typical connection would link to a backbone provided by CoreExpress, and would dedicate resources in their own networks to ensure that performance guarantees could be met.

The premium grade connection would cost customers significantly more than a traditional best-effort Internet offering, and the three operators would share the proceeds.

CoreExpress has raised a cool $600 million to build a backbone supporting this project. It will link nine cities in the U.S. in its initial incarnation, and will be based on 20,000 miles of dark fiber, optical gear from Nortel Networks http://www.nortelnetworks.com and routers from Cisco Systems, Inc. http://www.cisco.com.

The scheme is the brainchild of Mike Gaddis, its current CEO. Gaddis was CTO of Savvis Communications Corp. http://www.savvis.net before setting up CoreExpress.

-- by Peter Heywood, international editor, Light Reading http://www.lightreading.com