Posted: 05/2000

News Briefs

Recent Fiber Deals* US LEC Corp.
(www.uslec.com) has completed the installation of its Lucent Technologies Inc.
(www.lucent.com) 5ESS AnyMedia digital switch in Baltimore, continuing the company’s growth into Bell Atlantic Corp.
(www.bell-atl.com) territory. Since March 1999, US LEC has installed five digital switches in the RBOC’s territory, bringing the total number of switches in the company’s East Coast network to 17.

* Qwest Communications International Inc.
(www.qwest.net) will deploy Nortel Networks Corps.,
(www.nortelworks.com) Shasta 5000 Broadband Service Node (BSN) IP Service platform to support Qwest’s value-added Internet services. Shasta 5000 BSN is a universal broadband aggregation platform, enabling delivery of enhanced services such as network-based firewalls and
VPNs.

* ICG Services Inc. (www.icgcom.com), a subsidiary of ICG Communications Inc., has extended its agreement with Lucent Techno-logies Inc.
(www.lucent.com) in a deal valued up to $250 million to expand its nationwide voice and data network.

Under the extension of the seven-year agreement signed in 1996, Lucent will supply optical networking, switching, access and power systems and will deploy products such as its WaveStar OLS 400G and 2.5G SONET systems, the 5ESS Digital Switch and AnyMedia Access Systems.

* Choice One Communications Inc.
(www.choiceonecom.com), an integrated communications provider offering telecommunications services to small and medium-sized businesses in the Northeast, has opened three new sales offices and turned up services in Allentown, Harrisburg and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa. The company has confirmed plans to supplement the data services initially offered in these markets with voice services during the third quarter of this year.

* Broadwing Communications
(www.broadwing.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Broadwing Inc., has announced the industry’s first suite of network-based, business-grade IP VPN solutions. These eClass services will be available by June 1.

Broadwing also announced that zeroplus.com Inc. has integrated its Internet telephony services over Gemini2000. zeroplus.com services allow consumers to place and receive free PC-to-PC phone calls anytime, anywhere and subscribe to a variety of fee-based services and enhanced features.

*
BTI Telecom Corp. (www.btitele.com), a facilities-based ICP serving primarily small and medium-sized business customers in the southeastern United States, has deployed a Lucent Technologies 5E 2000 local telephone switching system in Tampa, Fla.

In addition to BTI customer traffic, the network will carry other carriers’ traffic through exclusive lease agreements. Prior to this recent deployment, BTI activated Lucent 5E 2000 local switches in Jacksonville and Orlando, Fla.; and Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro and Wilmington, N.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; and Columbia and Greenville, S.C.