Network to Facilitate Collaborative Research in Full Spectrum of
Disciplines, Including Hurricane-Related Studies
BROOMFIELD, Colo., Oct. 13, 2004 – Services from Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:LVLT) are helping a consortium of nine public and private Florida universities create a statewide high-performance network to facilitate collaborative research and education in a full spectrum of disciplines, including hurricane-related studies.
Members of the consortium – embodied as Florida LambdaRail, LLC (FLR, LLC) – include Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), Florida International University (FIA), Florida State University (FSU), Nova Southeastern University (NSU), University of Central Florida (UCF), University of Florida (UF), University of Miami (UM), and University of West Florida (UWF).
One of the overriding drivers behind the new network – called the Florida LambdaRail (FLR) – is to provide networking infrastructure that will improve all aspects of network connectivity for participating institutions, thus allowing them to access resources and collaborate in ways that currently are not possible or affordable. The objective is to facilitate academic, clinical, and scientific research, as well as technology development and education, by enabling high-speed communications among the nine member universities and with other state, national, and international research entities. The new network is expected to provide a 100-fold increase in data transfer capability.
Level 3 is providing (3)Link® Dark Fiber and (3)Center® Colocation services under a multi-year, multi-million-dollar IRU agreement with the FLR, LLC, as well as providing (3)CrossRoads® high-speed Internet access service. Level 3 is the preferred provider of dark fiber and colocation services for the National LambdaRail (NLR) network, with which the regional FLR network will connect.
“Enabled by Level 3’s robust, reliable network, colocation and high-speed Internet access services, the new high-performance FLR network will virtually eliminate the issue of ‘place’ for participating institutions’ faculty, research partners, students, and staff,” said Larry Conrad, chairman, FLR, LLC. “Together with the NLR, the FLR network will fundamentally redefine the ability of Florida universities and their public and private research partners to collaborate, cooperate, and compete, and create new economic development opportunities in Florida. It will do so by helping establish the next-generation network infrastructure that will enable collaboration in ways we cannot even imagine today.”
The FLR is being implemented with no dependence on additional state funding by offsetting a significant portion of FLR, LLC member costs. This includes lower costs through aggregation of Internet and Internet2 connectivity, wholesale purchase of bandwidth, combined network capabilities, and future cost avoidance of network-related costs – cost offsets anticipated in part by leveraging the Level 3 services.
“We’re proud that the FLR organization has chosen Level 3 as its preferred provider to support its vital research and education initiatives,” said Jerry Hogge, senior vice president of Government, Research and Academic Markets for Level 3. “As a recognized pioneer and leader in providing next-generation telecommunications networks, Level 3 is well-prepared to help the research and academic communities create the next-generation network infrastructure that will allow them to achieve their most demanding collaborative research goals.”
In addition to recognized work in the full spectrum of traditional and emerging disciplines, consortium members’ efforts include hurricane-related studies requiring the capability to reliably transfer very large data files at high speeds on a daily basis. These include:
“All of WHIRL’s various Internet traffic will flow over the one new network backbone,” said Jean-Paul Pinelli, Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor, FIT Civil Engineering Department, and Director of the FIT Wind and Hurricane Impact Research Laboratory. “In particular, we’re deploying instrumentation during hurricane landfall, where we record the time histories of wind speeds, pressures and temperatures, resulting in extremely large data files, which we anticipate the new network will allow us to transmit quickly and reliably in real-time. Our latest such deployments were for hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne.”
Benefits of the FLR Network
Some of the anticipated opportunities for Florida researchers and educators through the Level 3-enabled FLR network include:
Level 3’s (3)Link Dark Fiber
(3)Link Dark Fiber provides the academic and research communities with the infrastructure and services required to operate and maintain an advanced fiber-optic network that will serve highly specialized, bandwidth-intensive needs now and into the future. (3)Link Dark Fiber services include optical fiber cable, fiber-based network extensions, colocation and running line facility space, power, and operation and maintenance of the network.
Level 3’s intercity dark fiber services feature approximately 16,000 intercity route miles in the United States connecting more than 150 cities, and an approximately 3,600-mile pan-European network. Level 3’s Network employs high fiber counts, the latest generation of optical fiber, and carrier-neutral colocation facilities.
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.
