Launch of CityNAP brings telecommunication system to San Antonio PR Newswire

October 19, 2006

Tucked away inconspicuously in downtown San Antonio sits a three story building. The nondescript exterior belies the importance of the advanced telecommunications businesses inside.

It is here that California entrepreneur Frank R. Robles has chosen to open CityNAP this month. A 21-year veteran of the Silicon Valley technology industry, Robles recognized the potential within San Antonio and decided in 2005 that his next endeavor in this industry would be from San Antonio.

Bringing together local communications companies and their many fiber optic networks, CityNAP looks to serve the future of San Antonio as an advocate for local start-ups and more established high tech businesses.

Robles' research pointed to the obvious need for a NAP in San Antonio - the largest city in the US without one, before he arrived. A NAP is defined as a Network Access Point - "the original term for the data communications facilities built in the early days of the Internet to provide on-ramp access to higher-speed Internet links (which were typically transcontinental or intercontinental in extent). Also known as Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), these facilities in their modern role are an essential component of the global telecommunications and Internet infrastructure."

Robles adds: "CityNAP provides carrier neutral collocation and Internet exchange services for enterprises, content companies, systems integrators and network services providers. The added benefit to local business is the ability to leverage millions of dollars of infrastructure in order to develop and expand their business while allowing them to significantly cut costs. CityNAP joins NAPs around the country as a place where business gets done."

CityNAP gives customers access to a variety of carriers to provide solutions for all connectivity needs, including AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Time Warner Telecom, Neopolitan and Level 3. Because these carriers are located in the CityNAP facility, the staff can accommodate carrier connectivity and transitions within 24 hours of a request, in most cases.

"The NAP allows you the freedom of choice," says Robles. "You use your own equipment, you pick your carrier or carriers, you name it...it's a freedom that we pride ourselves on and feel is essential to our customers' success."

ROBLES BIO: Robles is widely known for defining the metropolitan Gigabit Ethernet networking market, contributing to the success of many Silicon Valley companies. Founding NanoSpace, later renamed to YIPES Communications, Robles deployed over 36,000 miles of metro Ethernet fiber networks in the top 20 Metro Service Areas (MSA) in the United States. This is now a standard service offering by every communications / telephone company in the world and the fastest growing service in demand today.

As one of the first few employees of NetCom (one of the first ISPs), he contributed to the launch of the company with "NetCruiser" - the first integrated web browser, designed by Peter Kaminski - and its initial network deployment of 86 Points of Presence (some of the first dial-in locations in the country).

An entrepreneur and investor with extensive experience in starting and building companies, Robles has also served as part of the original founding team as well as assisting startups in general as part of their core team and as a seed investor. His operating roles have included Board Member, CEO, VP Operations, VP Corporate Development, General Manager, Software Engineering Manager, Software Engineer and QA Manager. Some of the other companies he has played a role in include HeavyMail, Neopolitan, OakStone Ventures, Agile Media, Kana Communications, Ascencia, YY Software, Netscape, AlphaBlox, HP, Siebel Systems, Netcom, Apple Newton, Coactive Communications, EPYX Software, MEI, BOA and Tecla Software.

According to Hispanic Business magazine, "Robles was born of an inter-racial marriage and raised by a single mother in one of the worst neighborhoods of East Oakland, Calif. He taught himself computer programming at age 12 and by age 14 was president of the Kaiser Aluminum Computer Club. Because his high school did not offer the courses required to go to college, he was home tutored and scored high enough on his SAT tests to earn a Cal Grant to attend University of California, Santa Cruz. Robles' career as a software programmer and entrepreneur began in college when he developed educational software for a company called 'Tecla.' Over the span of his career, he has provided technical management and consulting services to high-tech leaders such as Apple Computers, Hewlett-Packard, Kana Communications and Siebel Systems. He was a founding member of Internet service provider, Netcom."