Williams Communications Passes 26,000-Route Mile Fiber Network Milestone, Races Toward Year-End Finish Line; Williams Expands Network Size and Product Offerings to Meet Increased Market Demand - Company Operations

Cambridge Telcom Report, Jan 31, 2000

With a fully operational fiber-optic network that already dwarfs those deployed by any of the other new-generation providers of broadband bandwidth, Williams Communications, has raced past the milestone of 26,000-route miles of fiber on track toward a year-end objective of 33,000 miles.

The network unit of Williams Communications, a leading international provider of telecommunications services and products for the carrier marketplace, met its interim goal of installing 26,000-route miles of fiber on its nationwide network. Williams' network now connects more than 100 cities in the United States and is planned for completion at the end of this year with 33,000-route mile network connecting 125 cities.

"At our current size of 26,000-route miles, Williams already ranks as one of the largest fiber-optic networks in the nation. This unique asset is the indispensable strategic ingredient in the success of scores of other carriers," said Frank Semple, president of the Williams network. "As we complete the 33,000-route mile network, Williams will have fully secured its position as the only provider with the breadth of coverage and the range of products and services to be the ideal partner for carriers."

Williams Communications has recently completed and lit significant routes on its network including:

* Washington, D.C.-Baltimore-Philadelphia-New York; * Miami-Ft. Myers, Fla.-Tampa, Fla.; * Tampa, Fla.-Tallahassee, Fla.; * Tallahassee, Fla.-Pensacola, Fla.-Mobile, Ala.-New Orleans; * Denver-Salt Lake City; * Houston-Corpus Christi, Texas-McAllen, Texas-San Antonio; * San Luis Obispo, Calif.-Fresno, Calif.; * Bandon, Ore.-Eugene, Ore.; and * Sacramento, Calif.-Fresno, Calif.-Bakersfield, Calif.-Los Angeles.

Williams' "turbo-charged" network construction plan got under way in February 1999, squeezing the initially planned four-year project into three in response to the exploding demand for bandwidth. This plan increases Williams' original $2.7 billion financial commitment to $4.7 billion.

Fueling the accelerated construction plan was Williams Communications' initial public offering and related financing package completed in October 1999.

"As demand for Williams' network capacity and services continues to increase, we have realized the value of our decision a year ago to dramatically push up the timetable for our network construction," said Semple.

The enhanced construction plan also called for expansion of several network points of presence (POPs) into giant structures of 50,000 square feet or more, providing ample space for customers' equipment and deployment of additional leading-edge equipment within the Williams network.

"We've seen such a remarkable call for bandwidth, collocation and other network services and have responded by expanding POPs and related services in several major markets," said Joe Turcotte, chief operations officer for the Williams network. "Expanding these POPs involved doubling, and in some cases tripling, the initially planned square footage and adding equipment. The robust equipment and expanded POPs better position Williams to deliver the capacity and services our rapidly growing customer base requires."

Williams Communications remains focused exclusively on the carriers services market, providing customers such as: SBC Communications; Telefonos de Mexico, S.A. de C.V.; Intel Corporation; Concentric Network Corporation; Winstar Communications, Inc.; UniDial, and Intermedia Communications with long-haul transport and network services.

Williams Communications also supported roll-out of several new services to provide its customers a competitive-edge in the marketplace. These services include a suite of voice and Internet protocol products and the industry- leading Williams' Optical Wave Service, which provides a "third alternative" to dark fiber and capacity services through the leasing of individual wavelengths.

As Williams Communications nears completion of its 33,000-mile domestic network, the Tulsa-based provider has begun expanding into local markets to provide its customers with a comprehensive set of end-to-end network solutions. Through alliances with Metromedia Fiber Network and Winstar, Williams Communications has gained access to broadband wireless and fiber- optic capacity in the business districts of key markets.

While meeting aggressive construction objectives in 1999, Williams was recognized with industry awards for its innovative optical network architecture and services including the International Engineering Consortium's InfoVision award, SuperCOMM's SuperQuest award for best-built bandwidth and the America's Network Readers' Choice Award for best bandwidth wholesaler.

The Williams Multi-Service Broadband Network is a fully integrated fiber-optic network whose award-winning architecture couples ATM core switching with advanced optical networking technologies to give Williams network customers a full range of data, voice, video and Internet services over the platform they choose. Using OC-192 transport systems with Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing, the Williams network delivers up to 160 Gbps in 16 waves on a single fiber.