SPLITROCK PLANS MAJOR EXPANSION WITH NORTEL ACCESS + OPTICAL SYSTEMS
Splitrock Services unveiled plans to quadruple the capacity of its nationwide US network over the next 18 months with $129 million in new dial access and optical networking equipment from Nortel Networks.  The network upgrade will include the use of Nortel Networks' CVX 1800 access switch for secure dial-in remote access and Nortel Networks' OPTera LH DWDM platform.  http://www.splitrock.net/
Splitrock, October 28, 1999

Earlier this year, Splitrock announced plans to acquire long-term rights to use up to 16 dark fiber strands in approximately 15,000 miles of Level 3's 16,000-mile nationwide network, which is currently under construction.  Splitrock operates an ATM-to-the-Edge network with 370 POPs across the US, putting it within local access reach of 90% of US businesses and households.  Splitrock has also previously disclosed an agreement to resell Focal Communications' DSL services.  The deal covered a minimum of 10,000 DSL access lines in the regions served by Focal, and a commitment by Focal to use Splitrock's data communications services, such as VPN, Internet Dedicated and Internet Dial.

MCI WORLDCOM'S REVENUE GROWTH
Data and Internet revenues now represent an annualized sale stream of $11.4 billion, or approximately one-third of MCI WorldCom's communications services revenues.  Highlights of the company's quarterly financial report include:

MCI WorldCom noted that Internet usage on a pro forma basis, as measured by connect hours, increased 83% year-over-year.  More than 75% of MCI WorldCom's incremental revenues come from data, Internet and international services.  http://www.wcom.com/cgi-bin/pr/display.pl?cr/19991028
MCI WorldCom, October 28, 1999

VERIO NOW HOSTS 305,000 WEB SITES, 40% OF DSL USERS PURCHASE WEB HOSTING
As of September 30, Verio was hosting 305,000 Web sites, up by 35,000 from the previous quarter. This compares to an increase of 25,000 in the preceding quarter.  Parked domain names increased by over 40,000 to a new total of 171,00.  Verio also noted that approximately 10% of new hosting customers are choosing an e-commerce package, and more than 40% of DSL customers are purchasing a web hosting package.  http://home.verio.com/company/newsroom/1999/in_10_27_99.cfm
Verio, October 28, 1999

RCN'S FIBER NETWORK ROLLOUT NOW PASSES 500K HOMES
RCN recently reached a significant milestone -- more than half a million homes passed by its new local, fiber network.  The number of homes passed increased 29% over the previous quarter, from 427,843 to 550,771.  RCN said it is now deploying an average of 8.1 route miles of fiber per day across all of its markets, up 14% from an average of 7.1 miles per day in the previous quarter.  The full service network employs SONET ring backbone architecture, and localized nodes with fiber optics traveling to within 900 feet (300m) of the customer.  RCN's target markets include high-density neighborhoods throughout the Boston to Washington and San Francisco to San Diego corridors. http://www.rcn.com/investor/press/10-99/10-28-99/index.html
RCN, October 28, 1999

Earlier this month, Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen announced plans to invest $1.65 billion in RCN, increasing his ownership of the company from 4.5% to 27.4%.  Since becoming a public company two years ago, RCN has raised a total of $4.6 billion through the debt, equity, bank and private equity markets.

NTT COMWARE LICENSES FANTASTIC'S MEDIA SOFTWARE FOR SATELLITE SERVICE
NTT CommunicationWare (NTT ComWare) will use Fantastic's Channel Management Centre software for multimedia and data broadcasting over its MegaWave Pro satellite service.  NTT ComWare's satellite platform will use IP and Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standards to broadcast digital content to PCs, televisions and 3G mobile devices.  Customers will be able to book, track and subscribe to sets of broadband multimedia services on a per-transaction basis.  Fantastic's software also enables broadcasters to aggregate multimedia content for point-to-multipoint distribution over cable, DSL and digital terrestrial networks.  http://www.fantastic.com
The Fantastic Corporation, October 28, 1999

NETWORK PLUS OPENS ITS FIRST DATA CENTER FOR WEB HOSTING, ACCESS AND VODSL
Network Plus opened its first $12 million Internet Data Center (IDC) in New York featuring facilities for Web hosting, Internet access and Voice-over-DSL services.  Earlier this week, Network Plus activated three metro fiber rings around New York City using dark fiber from Metromedia Fiber Network. The fiber rings provide access to 12 more co-locations facilities from which Network Plus will launch its services.
http://www.nwp.com
Network Plus, October 28, 1999

XACCT RAISES $21 MILLION FOR ITS IP MEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES
XACCT Technologies, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California raised $21.3 million in its third round of financing, bringing the total amount raised since its founding in May 1997 to more than $32 million.  XACCT is developing an IP Mediation solution that would allow network service providers to design and execute flexible pricing models for differentiated value-added applications.  The system will extract usage information from a multitude of network devices across all layers of the network -- from the physical layer to the application layer -- in real-time. XACCT then synthesizes this data to produce billing records that are analogous to the Call Detail Records (CDRs) generated by telephone switches.  The goal is specific, usage-based bills for IP-based services and applications, such as VoIP, video, and VPNs.  Investors include Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), Deutsche Bank, Nissho Iwai, Ampal, Eucalyptus Ventures (a Hambrecht & Quist fund), Israel Seed Partners and Trident Capital.  http://www.xacct.com
XACCT Technologies, October 28, 1999

FRANCE TELECOM MOVES TO FLAT-RATE INTERNET ACCESS
France Telecom's Wanadoo Internet service will offer flat rate pricing that includes both the Internet connection and the call costs.  Three dial-up pricing tiers will be offered:  3 hours connection time for 39 francs (US$6.26) per month; 10 hours for 99 francs (US$15.89) per month; or 18 hours for 159 francs (US$25.52).  France Telecom now has 950,000 subscribers to its Wanadoo Internet service.  http://www.francetelecom.com/vangl/b/b6/b6.html
France Telecom, October 28, 1999