ELEC. Flying. Strong buying into the dip!eLEC Communications and Access One Communications Bring Their First DSL Network Node Online in Florida;
NORWALK, Conn. & FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Dec 23, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE)
--
Companies Announce Initial Launch of DSL Services for Territory
Ranging from Miami to West Palm Beach, Florida
eLEC Communications (NASDAQ: ELEC) and its affiliate, Access One
Communications, jointly announced today the successful lighting of
their first DSL network node. This network node has been designed to
provide DSL local exchange and high speed Internet Services for the
entire 460 LATA, which covers most of southeast Florida. The companies
expect to begin the test marketing of DSL services today with a full
launch expected in mid-January, 2000.
Paul Riss, eLEC's CEO, stated, "This first network node is part of our
planned 18-node deployment, which will cover most of the east coast of
the U.S. In the southeast we will be partnering with our affiliate,
Access One Communications, to deploy 13 nodes in 9 states. In the
Northeast, we expect to deploy an additional 5 nodes covering LATAs in
New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania."
"Initially, we will be providing high speed Internet access to our
customers," continued Mr. Riss. "In what we believe to be the final
stage of our conversion to a full `e' Local Exchange Carrier, or
`eLEC,' we plan on deploying VoDSL local and long distance voice
services to our customers over segments of this network."
Access One's CEO, Ken Baritz, added, "We are excited to be bringing the
benefits of DSL services to our customers in southeast Florida. As one
of the largest CLECs in the southeast, we believe that we must include
high speed Internet access in our bundle of integrated communications
services. As a communications services provider, the potential cost and
services benefits of a packet switched network are undeniable. We and
our partners at eLEC believe that it is critical to begin to own and
control the central elements of a packet switched network."
eLEC Communications Corp. is a publicly traded local telecommunications
company that is taking advantage of the convergence of the current and
future competitive technological and regulatory developments in the
Internet and telecommunications markets. The company provides an
integrated suite of communications services to small and medium-sized
business customers, including local, long distance, dial-up access,
dedicated access, and Web site design and hosting.
Access One Communications is a Florida-based competitive local exchange
carrier, which provides an integrated suite of telecommunications and
Internet services to small and medium-sized businesses in the
southeastern United States. Access One is operating under a virtual
local services network through the first region-wide UNE-P agreement
with a Regional Bell Operating Company.
This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. The Company's actual results may differ materially from
the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that
might cause such a difference include, among others, availability of
management; availability, terms, and deployment of capital; the
Company's ability to successfully market its services to current and
new customers, generate customer demand for its product and services in
the geographical areas in which the Company can operate, access new
markets, negotiate and maintain suitable interconnection agreements
with the incumbent local exchange carriers, and negotiate and maintain
suitable vendor relationships, all in a timely manner, at reasonable
cost and on satisfactory terms and conditions, as well as regulatory,
legislative and judicial developments that could cause actual results
to vary in such forward-looking statements.
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