2nd Century Honored at Third Annual Infr@structure Award Ceremony During NetWorld+Interop.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

NetWorld Interop Atlanta 2000

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 6, 2000

2nd Century's ESL Pro(SM) Product Wins for Innovation

2nd Century Communications, a leading network application service provider (ASP), received an Interop Infr@structure Award from Inter@ctive Week during a special reception last week as part of NetWorld+Interop 2000, the networking, Internet and telecommunications event in Atlanta, Georgia. 2nd Century was honored with the "Most Innovative Service" for meeting customer needs and providing leading-edge network services, and was recognized as an industry-leader who is "dedicated to progressive changes and improvements...and continuous innovation."

The judges for the competition included top journalists from Inter@ctive Week and The Net Economy, and senior analysts from TeleChoice, Infonautics and Probe Research.

As detailed in the September 27th article in Inter@ctive Week, one of the senior reporters who served on the judging panel, Dennis Mendyk, added, "They (2nd Century) have carved out a definitive niche, and are taking an approach that is different from other ICPs and CLECs with this service (managed desktop services)."

"I accept this `Most Innovative Service' Award on behalf of the entire 2nd Century team. This recognition is a great honor for our company. The vision of delivering applications to the desktop -- to truly becoming a communications partner for small and medium businesses is quickly becoming a reality," said John Prisco, president and CEO of 2nd Century Communications.

Judge Carol Wilson, editor-in-chief of The Net Economy, said, "In a field where technologies are changing faster than a fiber-optic transmission, we've found these companies to be out in front in innovation. Interestingly, a number of winners and nominees were little known or non-existent when this awards process began in 1998."

Some of the other award winners included AT&T Broadband, Williams Communications and Nightfire.

NetWorld+Interop provides networking, Internet and telecommunications professional buyers with a uniquely comprehensive forum for education and hands-on products and services in order to make critical purchase decisions. NetWorld+Interop affords buyers from enterprises, carrier/service providers, and resellers/integrators the opportunity to experience live technology demonstrations first-hand. It's this focus on advanced, multi-vendor, multi-protocol, multi-service interoperability technologies and solutions that

makes NetWorld+Interop the definitive networking, Internet and telecommunications event.

About Inter@ctive Week

Inter@ctive Week, a Ziff Davis Media publication, is the Internet's newspaper with a controlled circulation of 250,000 Internet business and technology professionals. It launched in 1994 as the first business-to-business paper for today's Internet economy.

About Ziff Davis Media Inc.

Ziff Davis Media Inc. (www.ziffdavis.com) is the leading information authority for buying, using and experiencing technology and the Internet. It is the largest technology and Internet magazine publisher and the sixth largest magazine publisher in the United States. The company is also at the forefront in creating a new generation of consumer and business media that educate, entertain and empower people. In the U.S., Ziff Davis Media publishes 13 industry-leading consumer and business publications: PC Magazine, Ziff Davis SMART BUSINESS for the New Economy, Yahoo! Internet Life, FamilyPC, Expedia Travels, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Computer Gaming World, Expert Gamer, eWEEK, Inter@ctive Week, Sm@rt Partner and The Net Economy. Through a joint venture with International Data Group (IDG), the company also publishes Macworld. Other Ziff Davis Media business units include Ziff Davis Custom Media, which provides custom and contract media solutions within the technology industry; Ziff Davis Media Brand Development, which manages brand development and licensing; eTesting Labs, the industry leader in Internet and technology testing; and Ziff Davis Internet, an Internet-related development group. The company also produces conferences, seminars and Webcasts.

About 2nd Century Communications

Headquartered in Arlington, Va., 2nd Century (www.2ndcentury.com) is a privately-held, emerging communications company representing the intersection of networking and applications by providing small and medium businesses a complete package of business tools including high-speed Internet, desktop management solutions, self-healing software and voice applications. The company is a leading network ASP and its network combines the flexibility of an Internet architecture with the reliability of a traditional voice network. 2nd Century provides a complete end-to-end solution that begins with broadband access and reaches all the way to the desktop with applications and proactive management support.

This year, 2nd Century also received a "Product of the Year" Award by Network Magazine and was named one of "10 Companies to Watch" by Network World.