<A> "WinStar to Provide Great Lakes REIT With State-of-the-Art
Broadband Telecommunications Services"
from biz.yahoo.com
WinStar's Wireless Fiber(SM) Network and Services to be Installed in the
Buildings Owned by Great Lakes Region's Only Suburban Office REIT
NEW YORK & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 1999-- WINSTAR COMMUNICATIONS, INC. (NASDAQ: WCII - news)
and GREAT LAKES REIT (NYSE: GL - news) today announced that WinStar's Wireless Fiber(SM) service will be available in the
buildings owned by the Great Lakes region's only suburban office Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).
Under the agreement, WinStar will offer its advanced voice, data and Internet services to 11 targeted properties in the Great Lakes
REIT portfolio, with an option for an additional 20 properties over the next three years. Great Lakes REIT customers in selected
buildings throughout Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and Colorado will gain access to WinStar's high-speed fixed
wireless broadband network.
''Although deregulation of local phone service occurred in 1996, the economics of the competitive telecommunications carriers has
caused most of them to bring services to the larger central business districts such as Chicago,'' said Richard A. May, chairman and
chief executive officer of Great Lakes REIT. ''As a result, small and mid-size suburban businesses have not had an opportunity to
realize the benefit of the deregulated telecommunications environment. WinStar will afford Great Lakes REIT's small and mid-size
tenants an opportunity to competitively purchase local and long distance voice services as well as high-speed Internet access and data
services, which will differentiate Great Lakes REIT's properties from their competition.''
WinStar works with commercial building owners and managers to install unobtrusive dish antennae--about the size of a dinner
plate--on building rooftops. This enables WinStar to provide these tenants with a range of state-of-the-art, cost-effective and reliable
telecommunications services through its national end-to-end broadband network. Because the service is wireless and doesn't require
streets to be excavated, buildings can be quickly connected to WinStar's fixed wireless network, giving tenants swift access to local
and long distance voice services, high-speed Internet access, video conferencing, data applications and other advanced
telecommunications and information services.
Rick Uhl, president of WinStar for Buildings, said, ''Great Lakes REIT is enhancing the value of its buildings by offering its current
and future tenants WinStar's advanced telecommunications capabilities. We are pleased that Great Lakes REIT has joined the growing
number of premier building owners who are working with WinStar to help meet their tenants' demand for end-to-end broadband
connections to the global information network.''
Great Lakes REIT is a real estate operating company, which owns and manages suburban office properties ranging from 15,000 to
370,000 square feet, primarily in the Great Lakes region. The current portfolio consists of 39 properties aggregating approximately
5.1 million square feet in suburban Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Milwaukee and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Additional properties
are located in Colorado.
WinStar Communications, Inc. is a pioneer in providing business customers with broadband communications services, including local
and long distance phone service as well high-speed Internet access, data and information services. WinStar provides these Wireless
Fiber(SM) services in more than 30 U.S. markets over its local broadband network, using its licenses in the 28 and 38 GHz spectrum,
which are connected to the company's nationwide fiber-optic network. In the past year, WinStar has become one of the largest
Internet companies in the U.S. Recently, the company launched a destination web site for businesses, Office.com(SM), a service
from WinStar.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Statements looking forward in time involve risks and uncertainties. The
statements included in this release regarding anticipated results for properties, and other statements, are forward-looking and are made
in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Though projections are based upon
reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ from those projected. Key factors that could lead to a variance include interest rates,
customer and geographic concentrations, unexpected delays in construction, project lease-up, downturns in the local or national
economies, unanticipated vacancies in competitive properties, sub-lease availability which could negatively impact space absorption,
and other risks inherent in the real estate business. For further information, reference should be made to Great Lakes REIT's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Except for any historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements
that involve risks and uncertainties, which are described in WinStar's SEC reports, including the 10-K for the period ended December
31, 1998.
WinStar is a registered trademark, and Wireless Fiber and Office.com are service marks of WinStar Communications, Inc. |
