ADVISORY/Awards Ceremony Recognizing the Winners Of CENIC's First On the Road to a Gigabit Awards; Demonstrating The Need for Ultra High Speed Broadband For Californians.

News Editors/Assignment Desks

ADVISORY...for Wednesday (May 7)

CENIC 2003 Annual Conference

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

What:  The winners of CENIC's first On the Road to a Gigabit awards
       will be recognized at a luncheon and participate in a panel
       session. The event will be held in conjunction with the CENIC
       2003 annual conference. The awards event spotlights the
       industry, academia, government and community organizations who
       are currently applying ultra high performance network
       technology in innovative ways to encourage the development and
       implementation of a ubiquitous Gigabit state-wide network by
       2010. The six award categories include --

            --  Biggest, Fastest in the West

            --  Community

            --  Education

            --  Gigabit or Bust

            --  Innovation

            --  Partnership

When:   Wednesday, May 7, 2003 from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where:  Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort, 633 East Cabrillo Blvd.,
        Santa Barbara, Calif.

Why:    With a grant from the State of California, CENIC's Next
        Generation Roundtable is focusing on speeding One Gigabit
        broadband to all Californians by 2010, or in California
        "shorthand," One Gigabit or Bust(TM). CENIC's goal of a one
        gigabit per second (Gbps) ultra broadband infrastructure for
        all California's represents more than a thousand-fold increase
        from today's commercial DSL and cable networks.

www.cenic.org