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VeriSign runs one of the key pieces of the infrastructure that makes the Internet run: 'switchboards' that direct every piece of traffic to Web locations with a .com or .net at the end of their address.

Every time a Web surfer enters an Internet address, it first travels through a VeriSign server, which directs it to its final destination. The system also handles other types of Internet exchanges, including ones that are originated via computer or handle

VeriSign said it plans to upgrade the capacity of its switching system to 4 trillion transactions a day from its current daily level of about 400 billion. It expects to complete the work by 2010.

The system handles about 26 billion transactions on a typical day.

Demand is expected to soar over the next few years as the Internet is increasingly used for purposes beyond surfing the Web - including telephone calls, Web surfing over mobile devices and electronic commerce transactions.

'We must make sure that VeriSign's infrastructure is ready to support a new era of the Internet, the Any Era, where billions of users demand anywhere, any time, any device access to communications, information and entertainment,' VeriSign Chief Executive Stratton Sclavos said in a statement.

VeriSign, which provides Internet security products in addition to infrastructure services, had 2006 revenue of $1.6 billion.

Shares of the Mountain View, California, company fell 3 cents to $26.11 in morning trading on Nasdaq.