New Survey Indicates That More Than Two Thirds Of U.S. Online Adults Are Familiar With VoIP
Long Beach, Calif., June 27, 2005 – Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:LVLT) today announced that it has become a program partner in the Next Generation E-911 Program of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the study, advancement and implementation of 911 as America’s universal emergency number. As a program partner, Level 3 is assigned to the Technical Roundtable, a group focused on identifying technical solutions that will help facilitate Enhanced 911 services.
“As a member of the NG E-911 Technical Roundtable, Level 3 offers industry-leading expertise, as well as a commitment to working with partners like NENA to promote the safety and stability of emergency calls made over the Internet,” said Myrle McNeal, senior vice president of Consumer Voice Services for Level 3. “VoIP has reached a point where it can deliver high-quality phone calls, new features and cost savings. In order to continue the momentum of consumer adoption, we must work to ensure consumers are well educated about VoIP and understand that VoIP services deliver the safety that people have come to expect from their conventional telephone service.”
“Level 3 has dedicated itself for the past couple of years to deploying an extensive E-911 infrastructure across most of the U.S.,” said Bill McMurray, president of NENA. “Level 3’s commitment to providing a safe and reliable E-911 solution to cable operators, carriers, ISPs and other VoIP service providers is commendable, and has helped drive the industry toward a consensus view that for widespread consumer VoIP adoption to occur it must not compromise public safety. We’re pleased that Level 3 has elected to participate on the NENA Technical Roundtable, and look forward to working closely with them and with other industry leaders to identify and develop technical solutions that will enable next-generation E-911 technology and drive the evolution of emergency number services.”
Level 3 operates one of the largest Internet backbones in the world, and has invested substantial time, energy and capital to build E-911 functionality into its VoIP platform. Today, Level 3 delivers E-911-enabled VoIP services to areas encompassing approximately 66 percent of households nationwide and is the underlying supplier of E-911 service to a wide range of cable companies, ISPs, carriers and other VoIP providers.
A recent online consumer awareness survey conducted by Level 3 in conjunction with Harris Interactive® found that 68 percent of U.S. adults have heard of Voice over IP. In addition, 40 percent of respondents have heard of VoIP but do not consider themselves very familiar with the technology, indicating that more has to be done to educate respondents about the benefits and functionality of VoIP, including E-911. The survey also found that adults who have heard of VoIP consider lower price (60 percent) and clear, reliable connection (49 percent) the top factors when considering adopting VoIP service.
“We’re pleased with the survey results, as they show that the majority of online adults are aware of Voice over IP,” McNeal said. “The opportunity before us now is to facilitate continued VoIP adoption rates by making sure that people are informed about the added features, ease of use, and new benefits that VoIP can provide, including the ability in the future to deliver emergency number capabilities that extend far beyond today’s conventional 911 services. In time, VoIP is expected to be able to deliver medical records, real-time video images and other vital information, along with the standard address and caller information, to first responders and other emergency personnel.”
Level 3 has been providing IP-based voice services since December 1999 to PTTs, inter-exchange carriers, enhanced service providers, cable operators and other companies in the U.S. and abroad. Level 3 offers a broad suite of wholesale IP-based voice solutions for the residential and business markets over a robust softswitch-based network platform that reaches approximately 93 percent of the U.S. population and carries more than 30 billion minutes of IP-based data and voice calls every month.
For more information about Level 3’s broad portfolio of VoIP services, please visit www.level3.com.
Level 3 will be exhibiting in booth #555 at NENA’s annual conference being held in Long Beach, Calif., today through Thursday, June 30. In addition, Level 3 Group Vice President Ron Vidal will take part in a panel discussion at the conference entitled “Future Path Plan Compliance and IP Development Work: The Current Outlook” scheduled for Tuesday, June 28, at 2:45 p.m. Pacific time.
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.
