Telco Uses Next Level Equipment to Become Dominant TV, Internet and Phone Provider

Business Wire, Jan 16, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

ROHNERT PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2003

North Central Communication's Success, Superior Services

Convince Cable Competitor to Sell Operations

North Central Communications, Inc. (NCC), a subsidiary of North Central Telephone Cooperative, has used equipment from Next Level Communications (Nasdaq:NXTV) to become the dominant provider of broadcast TV, high speed Internet, and voice services in Scottsville, KY. After only three months of delivering bundled services to customers using Next Level's Full Service Access Platform, NCC has been so successful at capturing customers that its local cable competitor decided to sell its cable system to NCC. North Central is now migrating the remainder of those customers to its full digital service bundle of over 100 channels of digital TV, 40 channels of digital music, high-speed Internet, interactive services and telephone services.

"Next Level's bundled service capabilities are a big hit with our customers," said Tom Rowland, president and CEO of North Central. "They love the package of digital TV, Internet and phone, and they love getting caller-ID on the TV screen. They've noticed that the Next Level equipment provides picture and sound quality that is superior to cable and satellite. Most of all, they appreciate the fact that they have access to a better telecommunications service package than residents of many major American cities. These services are so popular that our cable competitor literally decided that if it couldn't beat us, it should join us."

NCC continues to expand its bundled service offering and is working to service a steady backlog of orders. Today, it is using Next Level's high-bandwidth VDSL technology for the initial rollout, providing three concurrent streams of broadcast digital TV into each home. However, to provide services to some of its more rural areas, NCC is considering plans to use Next Level's ADSL technology to enable two concurrent digital TV streams to those areas.

"We chose Next Level's platform because it is flexible and can be customized to fit our changing needs, along with price, service and product quality," said Rowland. "We looked at a lot of other platforms, but Next Level's solution was the perfect fit for our customers needs."

"Digital television is not the exclusive domain of cable and satellite providers," said J. Michael Norris, chief executive offer of Next Level. "As NCC has proven, telcos armed with Next Level's platform can beat cable at its own game. Because of its vision, NCC's predominantly rural customers now enjoy a communications and entertainment package superior to anything offered by cable or satellite operators in America's largest cities. For its efforts, NCC not only benefits from new revenue streams and lower churn rates, but also and most importantly, delighted customers."

About Next Level Communications

Next Level is a world leader in integrated broadband access platforms for delivering any combination of voice, high-speed data and multi-stream digital video services into the home or office. Next Level offers a unified multi-service, multi-band platform that lets communications service providers enter a more profitable broadband market segment by delivering a virtual communications and entertainment center over existing copper telephone lines. Next Level's highly scalable networking products, management tools and support assistance allow communications service providers to deliver a range of subscriber services, and realize significant new revenue streams. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Rohnert Park, Calif., the company has deployed its state-of-the-art systems for more than 100 communications service providers worldwide. For additional information, visit http://www.nlc.com.

Next Level Communications and the NLC logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Next Level Communications in the United States and other countries.

This release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words including, without limitation, "will," "plans," "expects," "believes," "anticipates" or "intends." Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. Factors that realistically could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are set forth in "Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001.