Monday March 2, 7:28 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Telecommunications Pioneer, Roy Wilkens, Joins Qwest Board of
Directors
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 1998--Qwest, a multimedia communications company building the world's most
advanced fiber optic network, today announced Roy Wilkens, founder and former CEO of WilTel, has joined its board of
directors.
Wilkens was president of Williams Pipeline Co. when he founded WilTel as an operating unit of The Williams Companies Inc.
[NYSE:WMB - news] in 1985. Under his leadership, WilTel grew rapidly into a full-service telecommunications company
offering data, voice and video products and services, and was often recognized for its leading technologies.
In 1995, WilTel Network Services was acquired by LDDS Communications, which now operates under the name WorldCom.
In 1997, Wilkens retired from WorldCom.
Wilkens has also been very active in the national telecommunications industry. In 1992, he was appointed by President George
Bush to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Council.
He has also served as chairman of both the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel) and the National
Telecommunications Network. In addition to serving on the board at Qwest, Wilkens is a member of the board of directors at
PageNet, UniDial and Invensys.
''Qwest is extremely pleased Roy Wilkens has joined our board,'' said Joseph P. Nacchio, president and CEO at Qwest. ''As
the founder of WilTel, he brings an entrepreneurial perspective that will augment the philosophy of Qwest and its board.''
The Qwest Macro Capacity(SM) Fiber Network
Qwest's planned domestic 16,285-mile network will serve more than 125 cities, which represent approximately 80% of the
data and voice traffic originating in the United States, upon its scheduled completion in the second quarter of 1999. Currently,
more than 3,600 miles are activated from Los Angeles to Columbus, Ohio. Qwest is also extending its network 1,400 miles into
Mexico with completion slated for late third quarter 1998.
The Qwest Macro Capacity Fiber network is designed with a highly reliable and secure bi-directional, line switching OC-192
SONET ring architecture. Upon completion, the network will offer a self-healing system that provides the ultimate security and
reliability by allowing instantaneous rerouting in the event of a fiber cut.
About Qwest
Qwest Communications International Inc. (NASDAQ:QWST - news) is a multimedia communications company building a
high-capacity, fiber optic network for the 21st century. With its cutting-edge technology, Qwest will deliver high-quality data,
video and voice connectivity securely and reliably to businesses, consumers and other communications service providers. |
