CENIC Signs 20-Year Fiber Agreements With Level 3
Universities Include Caltech, Stanford, USC and the CSU And University of California Systems
BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 29, 2002 - Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:LVLT) announced today that it has signed agreements to provide both metropolitan and inter-city dark fiber to CENIC, a non-profit corporation founded by California's public and private universities.
CENIC (the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California) will use the fiber to create a statewide, multi-tiered, advanced services network linking the top 40 research institutions across the state, including Stanford University, the California Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, the University of California system, and the California State University system. The network will be used for experimental and high capacity research applications. The fiber-based infrastructure will also link all California educational institutions, including 108 community colleges and nearly 8,000 elementary and secondary schools. CENIC'S network is known as CalREN (the California Research and Education Network).
CENIC has purchased metropolitan fiber from Level 3 in San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose as well as inter-city fiber linking those cities with Sacramento, San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles. The multi-million-dollar agreements have a 20-year term.
Today's announcement follows an earlier agreement for network services between CENIC and Level 3 signed last year. Under that contract, CENIC is using IP service from Level 3 to provide Internet access for more than seven million students and faculty at California institutions.
"We are very pleased that CENIC has once again chosen Level 3 to be a provider of network services, representing as it does many of the world's most recognized and prestigious academic institutions," said Jack Waters, Level 3's chief technology officer. "The research and education sector has played a seminal role in the creation of the Internet and Internet Protocol, and we believe it will be an increasingly important source of demand for network services in the future. CENIC is a national leader in the deployment and management of academic research networks, and we look forward to helping them create an advanced, secure and dependable communications infrastructure."
"CENIC is embarking on a truly new approach to network operations and management for the research and education community. Our agreements with Level 3 for securing dedicated dark fiber are crucial to the deployment of our three-tiered optical network architecture to serve all research and education in California. We think we have developed an infrastructure to provide relevant network resources to a very broad and diverse constituency. Finalizing these agreements with Level 3 is a huge milestone," said Thomas W. West, CENIC's president and chief executive officer.
CENIC was formed to coordinate the deployment, development, and operation of seamless and robust network services for all academic institutions throughout the state. More information about CENIC is available at www.cenic.org.
About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT), an international communications company, operates one of the largest Internet backbones in the world, connecting 180 markets in 18 countries. The company serves a broad range of wholesale, enterprise and content customers with a comprehensive suite of services including: Internet Protocol (IP) services, broadband transport and infrastructure services, colocation services, voice and voice over IP services, content delivery and media distribution services. These services provide the building blocks to enable Level 3’s customers to meet their growing demands for advanced communications solutions. The company’s Web address is www.Level3.com.
"Level 3 Communications,” "Level 3," the red 3D brackets and the Level 3 Communications logo are registered service marks of Level 3 Communications, LLC in the United States and/or other countries. Level 3 services are provided by wholly owned subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc. Any other service, product or company names recited herein may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statement
Some of the statements that we make in this press release are forward looking in nature. These statements are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs. These forward looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside our control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. The most important factors that could prevent us from achieving our stated goals include, but are not limited to our ability to: successfully integrate acquisitions; increase the volume of traffic on our network; defend our intellectual property and proprietary rights; develop new products and services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; successfully complete commercial testing of new technology and information systems to support new products and services; attract and retain qualified management and other personnel; and meet all of the terms and conditions of our debt obligations. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Level 3’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
