Under the deal Metromedia Fiber Network subsidiary, AboveNet Communications Inc. will independently market collocation and optical Internet protocol services to America Online's content providers.

AOL content-provider customers will have access to Metromedia's global one-hop Internet network. The deal includes complete access to Metromedia's public and private peering points assigned through neutral Internet exchange PAIX.net, another Metromedia subsidiary.

Metromedia's dedicated optical network is capable of providing multi-terabit per-second capacity for content providers directly connected to AOL's network.

Nick Tanzi, Metromedia Fiber Network president and chief operating officer, said the alliance with AOL allows it to join forces with a global market leader to deliver enterprise class end-to-end optical networking services.

"We think it represents a vote of confidence from the world's leading Internet online service and will give content providers a reliable, secure, high-bandwidth communications infrastructure to deliver advanced data, streaming video, e-commerce and Internet applications to AOL's members," Tanzi said.

Joe Barrett, AOL vice president of Internet operations, said the Metromedia Fiber Network deal would allow the firm to deliver content providers and members world class Web access.

"Our strategy has always been to form alliances with the best technology companies to build the fastest, most reliable and efficient network in the industry," Barrett said. "This agreement will give content providers access to a network directly connected to AOL's network, improving connectivity and allowing rapid scaling."

Metromedia Fiber Network provides optical IP Internet network infrastructure solutions at a fixed cost. The firm's goal is to change the way that broadband capacity is sold. Metromedia contends that unmetered bandwidth would eliminate Web content barriers inherent to network latency that impacts today's Internet delivery systems.

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Currently Metromedia Fiber Network is expanding its collocation facilities in 51 North America markets and has plans to establish its international presence with network buildouts in 16 cities throughout Europe.