To All!
Tuesday September 8, 8:28 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Qwest Awarded $38 Million Contract to Provide
Voice and Internet Services To MiCTA
Dedicated Internet Access now Available to Members via the Qwest Macro Capacity Fiber
Network
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 1998-- Qwest (NASDAQ:QWST - news) today announced it has been awarded
a contract, worth $38 million, from MiCTA - a non-profit organization dedicated to helping learning institutions, libraries,
non-profit hospitals, county governments, municipalities, and other non-profit entities handle the acquisition and implementation
of telecommunications services within their organizations. Under the terms of the three-year agreement, Qwest will provide long
distance service to all of MiCTA's organizational members in the contiguous 48 states. In addition, Qwest will provide
dedicated Internet access service to MiCTA members who reside outside of Michigan.
''Qwest is pleased to have been chosen as an endorsed provider of communications services for MiCTA,'' said Lew Wilks,
president of Business Markets for Qwest. ''Given the organization's extensive evaluation and review process, we view this win
as an endorsement of Qwest's ability to deliver state-of-the-art data and voice services to the education and non-profit
communities.''
''Qwest has made an investment in the future of the Internet, which will serve MiCTA members well into the twenty-first
century,'' said Kenneth Johnson, president of MiCTA. ''Qwest's network, one of the most robust communications networks in
the world, has an incredible amount of bandwidth that can carry MiCTA members' data, video and voice traffic with plenty of
room to spare.''
The contract award from MiCTA marks Qwest's continued success in providing advanced communications services to the
academic community. In April of 1998, Qwest announced it would be the backbone provider for the University of California's
CalREN2 Internet2 research and education network. One week after this announcement, Vice President Al Gore announced at
a White House ceremony that Qwest would be the backbone provider for the nationwide Abilene Internet2 project. With
access to the nationwide Qwest Macro CapacitySM Fiber Network, Abilene will be the farthest reaching, highest capacity
research and education network in the world.
The Qwest Macro Capacity Fiber Network
Qwest's planned domestic 18,449-mile network will serve over 130 cities, which represent approximately 80 percent of the
data and voice traffic originating in the United States, upon its scheduled completion in the second quarter of 1999. To date,
approximately 8,850 miles of the Qwest Macro Capacity Fiber Network are activated, including the transcontinental segment
that extends from Los Angeles to Sacramento and across to New York. Additionally, Qwest owns transatlantic submarine
capacity linking the United States to Europe and will jointly own a transpacific submarine cable system connecting the U.S. to
the Pacific Rim. Qwest is also extending its network 1,400 miles into Mexico with completion slated for late 1998.
The Qwest Macro Capacity Fiber network is designed with 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 MiCTA
MiCTA, formerly the Michigan Collegiate Telecommunications Association and the first educational organization of its type in
the United States, was formed in 1982 when representatives from several Michigan educational institutions joined together to
identify and resolve common telecommunications issues and problems. Since then, MiCTA's objectives have broadened to
include negotiation for the development and provision of products and services for its members. The membership and
telecommunications services at each MiCTA institution are diverse and growing. Currently, MiCTA's membership includes
approximately 700 institutions from all over the U.S. and from abroad, representing state colleges and universities as well as
government, non-profit organizations and K-12 schools. For more information on MiCTA, please visit www.micta.org.
About Qwest
Qwest Communications International Inc. (NASDAQ: QWST - news) is a multimedia communications company and one of the
fastest growing companies in America today. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Qwest has approximately 6,000 employees
and over 80 sales offices worldwide. With its world-class data and multimedia network, marketing expertise, and customer care
and billing systems, Qwest is delivering high-quality data, video and voice connectivity securely and reliably to customers around
the world. Further information is available at www.qwest.net.
This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially
from actual future events or results. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Qwest with the SEC, specifically the most
recent reports on Form 10-Q, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained
in the forward-looking statements, including potential fluctuations in quarterly results, dependence on new product development,
rapid technological and market change, failure to complete the network on schedule, volatility of stock price, financial risk
management and future growth subject to risks.
The Qwest logo is a registered trademark of Qwest Communications International Inc. in the U.S. and certain other countries.
Bill |
