PSINet Acquires French ISPs

Internet provider PSINet Tuesday continued its European expansion with the purchase of two privately-held Internet providers.

PSINet purchased Satelnet and Planete.net. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

William Schrader, PSINet’s chairman and chief executive officer, said the deal will fit well with its aggressive expansion plans in the region.

“PSINet’s global network, combined with the technology and customer service of Satelnet and Planete.net will serve the French market well. We intend to grow significantly throughout Europe and France is a very important part of that strategy,” he said.

Satelnet, based in Lyon, caters to commercial customers while Planete.net, based in Montreuil, serves both consumers and business customers.

Once the deal is complete, the two ISPs will have access to PSINet’s range of connectivity solutions as well as applications such as e-commerce and security services, Web hosting, global roaming, intranet and extranet services, Internet faxing and voice-over-IP services.