Carrier Channel: Briefs

Posted: 5/2003

Briefs

* Grande Communications
acquired a 3,000-mile backbone network spanning four states from C3
Communications. American Electric Power, of Columbus, Ohio, sold the assets for
$7 million. Grande will sell SONET protected point-to-point private line and
wavelength services to other communications providers over the fiber-optic
network, which spans Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Executives say the
network expands into smaller Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and gives the company
long-haul assets it needs as the company expands its residential
fiber-to-the-curb strategy later this year in Dallas and/or Houston.

* Broadwing Inc. announced an
agreement to sell Broadwing Communications Services Inc. for $129 million to C
III Communications LLC, a new company backed primarily by telecom equipment
maker Corvis Corp. Corvis disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission
filing that it owns 96 percent of C III. Broadwing and Missouri-based
communications investment company Cequel III, LLC also will retain a minority
interest in the company. Corvis’ stake in the broadband unit could shrink if
other investors back C III. For the fourth quarter 2002, Broadwing recorded a
$2.2 billion noncash impairment charge at its subsidiary. Broadwing, which owns
incumbent phone company Cincinnati Bell, expects the agreement to close this
quarter.

* Metromedia Fiber Network Inc.,
which owns metropolitan fiber networks and data centers in large cities
stretching from New York to San Jose, Calif., filed its plan of reorganization
with a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in mid-March. At the time of the announcement, MFN
had $73 million in cash. However, the company also just closed the sale of its
Internet peering business, PAIX.net, to Switch and Data Inc. for $40 million.
Sixty five percent of the proceeds will be used to pay the banks.

* Qwest Communications
International Inc. is forming a new organization within its wholesale
business unit to sell international voice minutes. Former Ameritech executive
Michael Musa has been appointed vice president of Qwest’s international
long-distance group.

* Internap Network Services Corp.,
a provider of performance-based routing services over the Internet, has signed a
deal with Earthnet, an ISP and data center in Boulder, Colo., to provide
Earthnet data and colocation customers with guaranteed high-speed connectivity
to the Internet. Earthnet will connect to Internap’s secure Private Network
Access Point (P-NAP) in Denver via Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) circuits.

Internap’s
"network-of-networks" managed network solution is designed to deliver
100 percent availability for e-commerce initiatives. Internap uses the backbones
of all major Internet carriers, employing proprietary intelligent routing
technology to monitor and route its customers’ traffic, based on preset,
customer-selected criteria.

* PaeTec Corp., a holding
company for its subsidiary PaeTec Communications Inc., reported positive net
income and free cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2002.

The milestones are significant
because most competitive phone providers continue to post losses seven years
after Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

PaeTec, based in Fairport, N.Y.,
posted earnings of 2.5 cents per share for the fourth quarter. Annual revenue
exceeded $289 million, said the company, which provides voice and data services
to businesses in 27 markets.