Collaboration to Provide Comprehensive Back-up Solutions for New York City Financial Institutions
BROOMFIELD, Colo., June 7, 2007 – Level 3 Communications’ Business Markets Group today announced that it has been selected to be the exclusive network provider for Wall Street West, a Federal and Pennsylvania-funded initiative to provide back-up systems to New York City’s financial institutions. Wall Street West, a comprehensive program designed to attract financial services firms to northeastern Pennsylvania, will include network infrastructure and services between the two regions, a workforce development program, and other financial incentives.
Under the terms of the agreement between Level 3 Communications and Ben Franklin Technology Partners, fiscal agent for the Wall Street West initiative, Level 3 has been selected to construct a diverse fiber optic network from New York City to Northeastern Pennsylvania. The network will be designed to meet specific requirements for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery applications to protect critical financial information in the event of an outage in the New York City area. Network construction is targeted to begin over the next 12 months.
“The Wall Street West initiative provides a robust and unique alternative for financial institutions seeking to improve their disaster recovery model,” said Governor Edward G. Rendell, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. “Level 3 is a long-time and valued provider to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and we believe that Level 3’s involvement with Wall Street West enhances the benefits of this proposition.”
“Level 3’s advanced network provides the reliability and scalability necessary for real-time, secure back-up for mission critical applications,” said Chadwick Paul, CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners and member of the Wall Street West executive committee. “With its existing network depth and breadth in New York City and Pennsylvania, Level 3 will be able to bring these capabilities right to the customer’s doorstep.”
“We are pleased to be the network provider of choice for this important and innovative initiative,” said Raouf Abdel, president of Level 3’s Business Markets group. “Level 3 is committed to expanding our network infrastructure to better serve our customers. We believe that Level 3 and Wall Street West will greatly enhance the business continuity and disaster recovery options for our valued financial service customers.”
Wall Street West is a $40 million initiative involving a variety of federal, state and private funding sources, including a $15 million investment from the Federal government through the Workforce Innovation Regional Economic Development (WIRED) program.
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.
