CHICAGO, Ill., June 23, 2004 – Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:LVLT) today announced that Moviefone, a property of America Online, has purchased wholesale voice services from Level 3. Level 3 made the announcement at SUPERCOMM 2004, an annual symposium that is produced and managed by the Telecommunications Industry Association.
Specifically, Moviefone (www.moviefone.com) has purchased Level 3’s (3)VoIPSM Local Inbound solution to enable Moviefone members in 35 U.S. markets to dial a local number to get access to movie listings, information, and ticketing anywhere in the country. Moviefone serves more than 10 million* unique users through Moviefone.com and more than 5 million moviegoers through the Moviefone phone service each month.
The services cover some 30,000 screens in more than 200 cities and are used by three in every 10 U.S. moviegoers across the country for the complete, free directory of movies, show times, theater locations, the ability to purchase tickets in advance, and original movie content, news, and reviews.
“We’re very pleased that Moviefone chose Level 3 to supply local phone numbers to its members,” said Sureel Choksi, president of Softswitch Services for Level 3. “Level 3’s wholesale VoIP offering enhances the economics of Moviefone’s business, and enables its members to have greater access to the content that has made Moviefone the most frequently used movie listing guide and ticketing service in the country.”
(3)VoIP Local Inbound service significantly reduces communications costs for carriers, call center operators, conferencing providers, and other service providers that require a reliable and geographically expansive local calling infrastructure. The service complements Level 3’s worldwide (3)Voice® Termination service and (3)VoIP Toll FreeSM, the company’s toll-free, nationwide calling solution.
The (3)VoIP Local Inbound service rides Level 3’s patented softswitch platform, which has successfully processed more than 300 billion minutes in calls since 1999. The service also utilizes Level 3’s extensive local networks, offering industry-leading geographic coverage.
“Our recent expansion of the (3)VoIP Local Inbound service to now offer local numbers in areas that reach more than 80 percent of the U.S. population makes this service an even more compelling offering,” said Kevin Dundon, senior vice president of Wholesale Voice Services for Level 3. “The addition of more than 225 markets gives Level 3 much broader geographic coverage, significantly enhancing our customers’ ability to cost-effectively deliver new and existing services for their end-user customers.”
The (3)VoIP Local Inbound service enables customers to:
Customers can use (3)VoIP Local Inbound service to leverage traditional telephone service capabilities while maintaining the control they need to create new products and services. With these services, customers can create and deliver applications faster, maximize call routing and back-end signaling efficiency, reduce maintenance and equipment costs, and increase their overall return on investment.
Level 3 is an industry pioneer in the development of VoIP technology and services. Today the company offers a broad suite of wholesale, business and residential IP-based voice solutions over a robust softswitch-based network platform that carries more than 25 billion minutes of IP-based calls every month.
For more information about Level 3’s portfolio of VoIP services, please visit www.Level3.com.
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.
