PALO ALTO, Calif., June 19 -- Sun Microsystems Inc. and Metromedia Fiber Network Inc. are working on a plan that will allow customers to use bandwidth and storage services on a pay-as-you-go basis. The companies have agreed to develop and organize new remote storage management services that will give storage service providers (SSPs) the means to outsource bandwidth and storage services to their customers. The centers will allow customers to avoid the delays and costs associated with conventional storage solutions. The market for storage utilityservices should reach $8 billion by 2003, said Sun Microsystems. The combination of Sun Microsystem's storage and server technologies with Metromedia Fiber Network's access to end-to-end IP infrastructure and Internet Data Center facilities, will allow SSPs to deliver network-based storage services to ASPs, ISPs, dot-coms and enterprise customers. Arsenal Digital Solutions, a storage utility services company, will be the first to use the planned solution. Arsenal Digital Solution's experience with storage utility solutions will bring remote storage services to the marketplace, said Sun Microsystems. In many respects, Sun's vision of the service-driven network is embodied in today's announcement, said Janpieter Scheerder, president of Sun Network Storage. We look forward to teaming up with MFN and storage service providers such as Arsenal to help pioneer the delivery of Web-based storage services.