LEVEL 3 LAUNCHES FIRST LONG DISTANCE IP VOICE SERVICE WITH QUALITY AND
CLARITY OF TRADITIONAL PHONE SERVICE (3)VOICE SERVICE COMBINES
Traditional Voice Quality with Cost Benefits of Internet Technology
BROOMFIELD, Colo., Dec 13, 1999 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Level 3
Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT) today announced commercial
availability of its (3)Voice(SM) service. (3)Voice is an enhanced
service delivered over Level 3's end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP)
network that offers customers voice quality indistinguishable from
traditional telephone networks, but with the efficiencies and inherent
cost advantages of IP. (3)Voice requires no change in how end-users
dial or in the equipment that they use.
The service will initially be offered on a wholesale basis to
resellers, other carriers, enhanced service providers, fax service
providers, wireless service providers and competitive local exchange
carriers. The initial rollout will be in major markets across the U.S.,
and the company plans to continue to expand to additional markets over
the next year.
"We believe the launch of our (3)Voice service is a threshold event not
only for Level 3, but for the communications industry as well," said
Kevin O'Hara, executive vice president and chief operating officer of
Level 3. "(3)Voice is the world's first IP voice service to offer the
quality and simplicity of everyday phone service ... no extra numbers
to dial ... no new equipment ... and no sacrifice in sound quality."
"To ensure quality, our engineers will continuously monitor a range of
metrics such as latency, jitter and packet loss -- and if the quality
should ever temporarily drop below the quality of the traditional phone
network, we would move our customers' traffic onto the traditional
phone network. All carriers in the industry have such overflow
contracts in place to enable them to move traffic back and forth as
needed," said O'Hare.
One of the initial customers signing a contract for (3)Voice is Network
Enhanced Technologies, Inc. (NET), an international telecommunications
service provider based in Los Angeles. "IP communications technology
clearly is the wave of the future," said Frank Tizabi, chairman of
Network Enhanced Technologies. "Level 3's rapidly expanding private IP
network and Softswitch- based infrastructure will enable us to provide
reliable, high-quality voice transmission at more competitive
long-distance rates. Equally important to NET, we expect over time to
realize the increasingly significant cost benefits that IP is
anticipated to bring."
Commenting on the continuing cost benefits of the new service, Level 3
Chief Technology Officer Jack Waters said: "We run our voice services
on general purpose computing platforms, so our cost of providing
services is expected to follow a Silicon Economics curve. Doubling
performance per dollar every 20 months is a new phenomenon in voice
services and creates the kind of cost reductions that, thanks to
Silicon Economics, have been seen in the computing industry for years."
(3)Voice - The Supporting Technology
Level 3's Softswitch-based network architecture currently processes
over a billion minutes of Internet connections per month - for Level
3's Managed Modem service. (3)Voice service will be carried over the
same Softswitch technology to provide enhanced quality and efficiency,
thereby reducing the cost of carrying voice telephone calls.
"Ever since we announced the start of our network construction in the
summer of 1998 we have been moving toward making this service available,
" said O'Hara. "This new voice service will use the same proven
Softswitch technology over which we have already been carrying millions
of dialup Internet connections every day for our Managed Modem
customers."
Softswitches are technically advanced software control systems, which
Level 3 uses to provide customers with services that combine the
innovation and rapidly improving price performance of Internet Protocol
based networks with the reliability and ubiquity of traditional
telephone networks.
(3)Voice - The High Quality Service
Level 3 transports voice calls across its U.S. long distance IP network
and then connects these calls to local phone companies that use
traditional protocols to complete the call in a given city. This long
distance transport is done without traditional circuit switches over
the Level 3 Network, using Level 3's Softswitch-based infrastructure to
seamlessly integrate today's telephone networks with Level 3's enhanced
infrastructure. As a result of the Softswitch platform and the
privately managed IP network, the quality and user behavior is
indistinguishable from traditional phone service.
(3)Voice - The Enabler Strategy
Level 3 is focused on providing superior, low cost "enabling" services
to wholesale customers who, in turn, have expertise in offering value
added services to end users. The company's (3)Voice service initially
targets the approximately $16 billion U.S. wholesale telecommunications
market (Source: International Data Corporation, 1998). Other
telecommunications carriers and enhanced providers, which are
continuously seeking a more efficient and economical way to transport
and terminate traffic anywhere in the world, will now be able to
transition from traditional telephone network infrastructures to Level
3's newer, more cost efficient network optimized for Internet
technology.
Over the course of the next year, (3)Voice's enhanced capabilities will
be extended to include expanded billing and routing capabilities and
native IP interfaces to support additional carrier, Internet service
provider (ISP), and application service provider (ASP) requirements.
"We believe this robust and commercially available IP service will spur
a wave of innovation in IP-based voice services and enhancements that
will bring new benefits for our customers," said Ike Elliott, vice
president of Softswitch Services for Level 3. "With our open (3)Voice
architecture in place, we anticipate new product developments from many
companies, including Internet companies. We believe the potential
exists for this new development to rival the growth in the World Wide
Web."
(3)Voice service will initially be available in the following 10
markets: New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington, DC; San Francisco;
Denver; Dallas; Detroit; Seattle and Tampa -- and is expected to expand
to 25 cities by the end of the first quarter of 2000. The inherent
benefits and efficiencies of Level 3's Softswitch IP infrastructure
will allow Level 3 to offer some of the most attractive pricing
available -- generally below the lowest current competitive wholesale
pricing in the initial markets. Pricing will vary based on the call
termination destination and on volume and term discounts. Over time,
the cost of this IP service will continue to drop, driven by the
continuing price performance improvement seen in other high tech
silicon- industries like computing. For more information on the
(3)Voice service, visit the Level 3 Web site at www.Level3.com.
About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT) is a communications and
information services company that is building the first international
network optimized for Internet Protocol (IP) technology. The Level 3
Network, with both intercity and intracity segments, is able to connect
customers end-to-end across the U.S. and in Europe and Asia. At
completion, the Level 3 U.S. network will consist of approximately 16,
000 intercity miles, connecting 56 cities in which Level 3 will offer
service. The 4,750-mile Pan-European network will connect 23 markets in
which the company will offer service. Level 3 sells a range of network
services to web-centric companies that add value and deliver their
services to end-users over the Level 3 Network. The company is traded
over the Nasdaq National Market (U.S.) under the symbol LVLT. Its web
address is www.Level3.com.
The statements made by Level 3 in this press release may be forward
looking in nature. Actual results may differ materially from those
projected in forward looking statements. Level 3 believes that its
primary risk factors include, but are not limited to: substantial
capital requirements; development of effective internal processes and
systems; the ability to attract and retain high quality employees;
changes in the overall economy; technology; the number and size of
competitors in its markets; law and regulatory policy; and the mix of
products and services offered in its target markets. Additional
information concerning these and other potential important factors can
be found within Level 3's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. Statements in this release should be evaluated in light of
these important factors.
SOURCE Level 3 Communications, Inc.
(C) 1999 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
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CONTACT: Josh Howell, 720-888-2517, or Steve Ingish, 720-888-2521, or
Investors, Julie Stangl, 720-888-2500, all of Level 3 Communications, Inc.
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