Qwest Communications Awarded Multimillion Dollar Contract for Web Hosting Services from Passport New Media - for the Your Own World children's web site - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, Dec 6, 1999

Qwest Communications International Inc., the broadband Internet communications company, announced Monday that Passport New Media, Inc. has awarded the company a multimillion dollar, five-year contract to provide enhanced Web hosting and other broadband services for Passport's new children's Internet service, Your Own World (YOW).

YOW's newly completed network infrastructure will rely on Qwest's CyberCenters, which are state-of-the-art, secure data facilities that are directly connected to the Qwest Internet network. The agreement gives YOW access to huge bandwidth capacity through Qwest's Burbank, Calif., CyberCenter, in addition to Qwest's professional consulting and managed firewall services. Because of the demand for safe, secure Internet experiences for children, YOW expects to be one of the top five bandwidth users on the Internet within one to two years.

"This is a complete managed solution providing Qwest's unparalleled bandwidth at an economically efficient level," said Lew Wilks, Qwest's President of Internet and Multimedia Markets. "The custom browser and Web content for the YOW service delivered to its growing user base will require enormous capacity, which we're able to deliver along with professional management and consulting support."

Available nationwide by year-end and offered free of any charges, YOW offers children and parents a dynamic "virtual Internet" experience, featuring content from numerous leading children's educational and entertainment Web sites through YOW's closed, offline environment. YOW brings the best of the Web together with the benefits of multimedia CD-ROMs, namely speed and performance, to families' home PC desktops.

"The YOW service provides regularly updated content to the home PC where kids experience an offline environment that is fun, fast, focused and safe. To provide this service reliably, we turned to Qwest," said Brian Pass, CEO and Co-founder of Passport. "We've designed a network capable of supplying content to hundreds of thousands of YOW families right from the outset. Qwest's superior network, service level guarantees and state-of-the-art, ultra-secure data centers will ensure that YOW meets the needs of its demanding audience: kids and their parents."

For children ages 2 to 12, YOW provides an easy-to-use, dynamically updated and content-rich experience, featuring real-time multimedia and unparalleled performance with no bandwidth constraints. For parents, YOW provides a unique service that is completely free-of-charge and safe - kids can use YOW without their parents' constant supervision. Parents follow a simple point-and-click installation process from a free CD-ROM. After that, the CD-ROM is no longer necessary. Using an Internet connection and Qwest as the backbone bandwidth provider, YOW automatically updates content at any time a parent selects.

Based in Los Angeles, Passport New Media was founded in January 1999 to address the performance and safety issues that children and their parents face when using the Internet. Passport's team - comprised of leading interactive digital video and children's content executives - has developed the company's flagship product, Your Own World or YOW for short, a free service that allows children to experience premium interactive content in a closed environment that may be carefully controlled by parents and educators. Without the need for constant parental supervision, children can experience the wonders of the Web through YOW in a manner that is fast, focused, easy-to-use and, most importantly, fun. FMI: http://www.yourownworld.com/.> Qwest Communications International Inc. is a leader in reliable, scalable and secure broadband Internet-based data, voice and image communications for businesses and consumers. The Qwest Macro Capacity Fiber Network, designed with the newest optical networking, spans more than 18,500 miles in the United States, with an additional 315-mile network to be completed by the end of the year. In addition, KPNQwest (Nasdaq: KQIP), Qwest's European joint venture with KPN, the Dutch telecommunications company, is building and will operate a high-capacity European fiber optic, Internet- based network that will span 9,150 miles when it is completed in 2001. Qwest also has completed a 1,400-mile network in Mexico. For more information, visit the Qwest web site at www.qwest.com.