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Technology Stocks : METROMEDIA FIBER NETWORK (MFNX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mary Baker who wrote (833)	2/14/2000 7:57:00 AM
From: Neil H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1983

Monday February 14, 7:29 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Metromedia Fiber Network to Implement $1.4 Billion Expansion of AboveNet NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2000-- Over 29,000 Route Miles of Long-Haul Fiber with up to Multi-Terabit per Second Capacity Will Connect MFN's Metropolitan-Area Fiber Networks and Create First Customer Premises-to-Customer Premises, Optical Internet Infrastructure Metromedia Fiber Network, Inc. (MFN)(Nasdaq: MFNX - news) and its subsidiary AboveNet Communications, Inc. have begun implementing a $1.4 billion broadband infrastructure expansion designed to create the largest customer premises-to-customer premises, purely optical, IP network in North America and Europe. The expansion will light nearly 29,000 route miles of long-haul fiber in North America and Europe, with up to multi-terabit per second capacity. This new, purely optical Internet infrastructure will be free from the competing demands of voice traffic common in today's telecommunications networks. The infrastructure's tremendous capacity and reach will enable new bandwidth-intensive applications and connectivity improvements for AboveNet and MFN customers. The ability to add capacity whenever needed will result in virtually unlimited bandwidth that is hundreds of times greater than the bandwidth available on the Internet today. More than 67 cities and 14 new AboveNet Internet Service Exchange (ISX) facilities will be reached by the expansion. Combining advanced optics and infrastructure for a better Internet, the network will enable millions of users to simultaneously receive video, audio, and other data-rich broadband applications that are not possible with today's existing congested Internet networks. The expansion will allow MFN and AboveNet to meet the rapidly growing demands of enterprise customers, ISPs, and Internet content providers seeking new levels of bandwidth and network performance. It will create an IP architecture over a dedicated optical network to reach all the way through the local loop to business centers throughout North America and Europe. ``This commitment underscores the value of the marriage of MFN and AboveNet in providing a purely optical Internet with the lowest cost of bandwidth in the world,' said Nick Tanzi, president and chief operating officer of Metromedia Fiber Network. ``No other provider can deliver such a comprehensive network of optical Internet architecture, connectivity and an end-to-end presence directly into customer premises.' The network will seamlessly connect all AboveNet facilities, including its three joint venture operations in Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom, with AboveNet's East Coast and West Coast hubs in Vienna, Va., and San Jose, Calif., and will provide AboveNet customers with exceptionally fast and reliable connectivity to the Internet. AboveNet's facility expansion, the largest in its history, includes 14 new Internet Service Exchange (ISX) facilities within North America and Europe. It will add in excess of 1 million square feet of co-location space to AboveNet's hubs of operation internationally. ``AboveNet is deploying an all-optical, terabit IP architecture to expand and extend the company's value proposition of better connectivity and reliability to millions more Internet end users,' said David Rand, chief technical officer of Metromedia Fiber Network and AboveNet. ``With our own end-to-end fiber network connecting AboveNet facilities to more than 67 cities internationally, we can avoid traditional telco delays and respond to customers' expansion needs immediately.' Each segment of the expansion, which is already under way, is being implemented at 40Gbps capacity. The expansion will be completed in the next 12 to 18 months. The first nine AboveNet facilities are scheduled to open in the year 2000, with the remaining five scheduled to open in early 2001. These new facilities will add to, and benefit from, the operational efficiencies of AboveNet's own one-hop global optical network.

To: Mary Baker who wrote (833)	2/14/2000 9:46:00 AM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1983

you're very welcome, mary; glad you approve. fwiw, this piece sounds nice too, but i don't know jack about Stratecast Partners street cred, so take it with a big salt lick. ----- Metromedia Fiber Network Changes the Playing Field for CLECs and RBOCs -- Supplier or Competitor? 02/14/2000 Business Wire MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2000-- Stratecast Partners' In-Depth Analysis Of MFN's Strategy and Operations Reveals Key Differences Between MFN and Other U.S. Competitive Operators Life on the telecommunications front may be changing substantially for the likes of ELI, e.spire, ICG and the RBOCs if Metromedia Fiber Network (MFN) has its way. MFN's business objectives are straightforward: wall-to-wall optical distribution. The company's goals, spelled out for Stratecast Partners in meetings with MFN's executive team in Q4 99, are predicated on exposing telecommunications tariffs as the resource management tools that they are. "MFN's strategy is in stark contrast to the majority of competitive service providers who continue to focus on developing new ways of packaging the same old services using the same old pricing models," said Michael Smith, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Stratecast Partners' Telecom Strategy Practice. "MFN has undertaken a new model for the telecommunications industry." According to findings presented in "Assessment of MFN," the most recent report provided as part of Stratecast Partners' U.S. Competitive Operator Strategies Analysis Program, although the risks are considerable, enterprises and other service providers will feel the impact if MFN succeeds. "How can one explain the fact that MFN--a company that recorded Q3 99 revenue of $10.7 million versus ICG's $115 million or Winstar's $97 million--has achieved a market capitalization 5-10 times that of those companies and virtually all other CLECs?" questioned Smith. "Clearly absolute revenues and pure revenue growth are not the metrics that would explain such a valuation disparity." Stratecast Partners finds the MFN value proposition to be very compelling for service provider customers requiring infrastructure build-outs who do not possess the time, resources or inclination to complete the process on their own. For service providers (CLECs, RBOCs, IXCs, ISPs and cable MSOs) for whom time-to-market and efficient infrastructure provisioning is an issue, MFN's value proposition is clear. "MFN is not a CLEC. MFN is not an IXC. MFN is not an ISP. With that said, the company may ultimately have a fundamental impact on all of those groups, and on ILECs as well," said Stratecast Partners Senior Research Analyst Tim McElgunn. "With MFN's focus on massive fiber deployment, particularly at the local level, there is literally no one else doing what this company is doing today. The executive team's core focus on infrastructure provision is a key strength--maintaining that focus--and resisting the temptation to deliver more traditional 'services'--will be an important prerequisite to long-term success." Although Stratecast Partners views the MFN value proposition as clearly compelling for service provider customers with local infrastructure build-out requirements, Smith and McElgunn believe MFN will confront considerably more substantial challenges in selling its vision and capabilities to enterprise customers. MFN's partnerships with equipment suppliers, explored in detail in the report, will also be a key element of the firm's success, particularly its relationship with Nortel. Stratecast Partners' assessment of MFN provides in-depth analysis of MFN's financial position; the vision of its executive management team; its significant partnerships, alliances and acquisitions; its technology, marketing and sales strategies; and the company's potential impact on the telecommunications industry. To obtain a copy of Stratecast Partners' assessment of Metromedia Fiber Network, or additional information on "U.S. Competitive Operator Strategies" or other Analysis Services offered by Stratecast Partners, please contact Mike Galvin at mgalvin@stratecast.com or visit the company's Web site at stratecast.com. Stratecast Partners, a division of Frost & Sullivan, provides strategic analysis of the telecommunications industry with a focus on four key areas of research: emerging service providers, data communications services and equipment, OSS, and infrastructure convergence. Analysis Programs have been developed addressing each of these subject areas, and strategic analysis is provided on a monthly basis. Additionally, in Stratecast Partners Insight for Executives (SPIE), Stratecast Partners provides strategic analysis of industry events as they unfold on a weekly basis.