NeuStar CEO touts DNS, VOIP plans

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How does UltraDNS fit in NeuStar's strategy?

It turns out that our products are very similar. All networks in North America depend on NeuStar for routing voice calls. Internet and IP networks depend on UltraDNS for routing DNS messages. We do the same things: We are both trusted clearinghouses of directory services for all networks.

What are your plans for UltraDNS' technology and staff?

All of the senior management are staying. NeuStar's reason for buying UltraDNS is that it is a very strong organization. They have great technology and operations. They run their systems in a highly reliable fashion 24-by-7, and they have a sales organization that's producing great growth. We fully intend to keep all the employees. And we expect to expand the operation. We think they can exceed beyond what they are already achieving.

What plans do you have for new services from UltraDNS?

UltraDNS expands NeuStar's capabilities in DNS and IP. Together, NeuStar and UltraDNS are the routing directories for more than 25 top-level domains, including .org, .biz,, .us and .mobi. Together, I expect we will be as essential to IP traffic as NeuStar is to all-voice traffic in North America. We already have products that NeuStar has announced that are complemented by UltraDNS offerings. One great example is SIP-IX. NeuStar announced SIP-IX in the fourth quarter of last year. SIP-IX is a standard that has been accepted by all the players in the industry as essentially the signaling and administrative function for VOIP, and we think it is a groundbreaking offering. The existing UltraDNS infrastructure -- their global DNS network -- is a strong platform for the distribution and accessibility of SIP services.

What is the status of SIP-IX here in the United States?

SIP is going to be to the Internet what Signaling System 7 [SS7] has been to the voice world. We've been the lead proponent of SIP-IX, and we've been participating at the IETF in its definition. We've created a platform that provides a broad range of SIP functions, and we signed exclusive agreements with Internet exchange points around the globe to exclusively put NeuStar's SIP-IX platform in their data centers to make SIP functionality available by the transaction to any and all networks that converge at those network exchange points. Internet exchange points that handle more than 70 percent of the world's Internet traffic have signed on to NeuStar's SIP-IX platform.

What will SIP-IX mean to enterprises?

Large enterprises have very complex IP links all around the world provided by different ISPs. The SIP-IX platform, because it is positioned in the Internet exchange points, is accessible to all the ISPs. So every enterprise, whether they own their own transport facilities and connect directly to the ISP or whether they use a network provider, can get compatible, worldwide end-to-end SIP functionality across their own transport facilities and across those of all the ISPs within their corporate enterprise networks.

When will SIP-IX be commercially available in the United States?

It's on a trial basis. It'll be operational before the end of June.

What is the status of NeuStar's work in Enum (an emerging standard that translates telephone numbers into corresponding Internet addresses)?

NeuStar has an Enum capability up and operating today. It's going to be a feature on the SIP-IX platform, so it's easily accessible to all enterprises, all carriers and all ISPs. Frankly, we're just waiting for the market to catch up with the technology and the product that's available today.

How does the UltraDNS acquisition position NeuStar against VeriSign?

We rarely compete against VeriSign. VeriSign is a large customer of ours. They bought Illuminet, a large SS7 provider, and NeuStar's local number portability is the killer application of the SS7 network. VeriSign doesn't do any of the telephone number directory work that we do. In the DNS space, they do .com and .net. We do different domains, but we don't compete with each other. We have similar operations, but our DNS directory is four or five times larger than VeriSign's.

Does NeuStar have any other acquisitions planned?

The market's need for directory services is growing very quickly, and to the extent that market needs require it we intend to expand the clearinghouse services that we provide. Mergers and acquisitions are a great way to do that.

NeuStar acquired Foretec in December and took over the secretariat function for the IETF. How is that going?

We think it is going very, very well. That's the feedback we get from the IETF. NeuStar is all about open standards. We are all about the work that happens at the IETF to establish the technical foundation that allows for interoperability. The IETF needed help in doing the secretariat work -- the administrative work of the regular IETF meetings and the background paperwork -- and NeuStar is happy to step up and do that, because it's another dimension of how we are dedicated to operating as a neutral third party between rivalrous network providers. Foretec is a small business. It's not an entity that is going to provide material growth or profits. But it is a critical function that the industry needs, and NeuStar is doing it in that light.

How do you explain NeuStar's financial success given the overall weakness in the U.S. telecom industry?

It turns out that networks are using [our product] for more purposes than any of them had anticipated. Despite the fact that we have lowered our prices several times, volumes of their usage have continued to exceed NeuStar's projections. What was originally a local number portability directory put in place so end users could keep their telephone numbers when they moved is now a dynamic call routing system that network operators use to manage the architectures of their networks. So every time there is a change in the technology of the network -- such as going from the old voice to the new IP technology -- every time there's a larger merger and acquisition among the telcos, every time there's a change in the architecture of the menu of end user services that the carriers are offering, the carriers rely on NeuStar to reconfigure their networks. All of that drives very high volumes.