Villagenet Inc. Enters National DSL Market August 24, 1999 10:18
--- Company to Partner with Rhythms to Deliver Service ---
VillageNet Inc., a community oriented Internet Service Provider, which recently merged into Big City Bagels (OTC BB: VILN), announced today that it is partnering with Rhythms Links Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rhythms NetConnections Inc. (Nasdaq: RTHM), to offer DSL service to its customers in New York and Los Angeles. VillageNet intends to offer DSL services nationwide by year's end. Rhythms is a leading provider of high-performance networking solutions for remote access to private networks and the Internet.
DSL is the emerging broadband technology that delivers high-speed Internet access. With speeds up to 125 times faster than an analog modem and ISDN service, DSL is ushering in a new era of multimegabit access.
DSL's robust transmission scheme enables data to be sent over standard twisted-pair copper wires at speeds higher than any other existing technology today. DSL is ideal for applications that require greater symmetry, such as access to corporate intranets, video conferencing and video streaming.
Peter Keenan, President of VillageNet, said, "On the heels of our strategic alliance with Enron Communications, we wanted to offer a lower cost, high-speed access solution that will greatly enhance home use of video streaming as well as improve download times. DSL is changing the face of the information age and VillageNet is poised to lead the way."
"DSL is a great access vehicle for businesses requiring high-speed Internet access," said Rick Adams, Rhythms chief marketing officer. "VillageNet and Rhythms share a vision of providing multiple applications over a single DSL connection, so this relationship is a natural fit."
VillageNet is launching its nationwide rollout of DSL services in Los Angeles and New York because the two cities represent the greatest concentration of Internet users.
About Rhythms
Rhythms NetConnections Inc. is an Englewood, Colorado-based business (Nasdaq: RTHM) with commercial services in 21 markets, including San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland/East Bay, San Jose, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, Chicago, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Baltimore, Raleigh/Durham, Milwaukee, Austin and Minneapolis. Chosen by FORTUNE magazine as one of its "Cool Companies for 1999,"
Rhythms is a provider of high-performance networking solutions for businesses, using DSL technology to provide high-speed remote access to private networks and the Internet. Rhythms provides managed network services for business and enterprise users, based on "always on" DSL connections ranging in speeds from 128 kbps to 7.1 Mbps (approximately 125 times the speed of today's fastest dial-up modem). Telecommunications services for Rhythms are provided by Rhythms Links Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rhythms. For more information, call 1-800-RHYTHMS, or visit the Web site at www.rhythms.com.
About VillageNet/Big City Bagels
VillageNet is a community-oriented Internet service provider specializing in educational and family-based Internet services with a local emphasis on business advertising and shopping, chat rooms and parent student/teacher interaction. The Company also offers systems-integration services, specializing in network design, implementation and maintenance and providing Internet/intranet messaging and security products. Villagenet is a value-added government and commercial reseller for Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and FORE Systems (NASDAQ: FORE) and is authorized to sell and install their products to public entities in New York (e.g., school districts) without public bidding through those companies' New York State contracts.
VillageNet seeks to acquire compatible Internet companies that currently outsource the backbone and support services offered by the Company.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are described in the Company's filings with the SEC.
This release and prior releases are available on the KCSA Public Relations Worldwide website at www.kcsa.com.
Copyright (C) 1999 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
CONTACT: Peter Keenan, President ICS and VillageNet (516) 218-0700 or KCSA CONTACT: Jeff Corbin/Mark Schwartz (212) 682-6300, ext 214/220 (212) 697-0910 (fax) jcorbin@kcsa.com/mschwartz@kcsa.com www.kcsa.com |
