Akamai and Broadwing Join Forces to Optimize Web Performance for Customers.

Business/Technology Editors

Internet World Spring 2001

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 2001

Broadwing to Offer Akamai's Integrated Suite of Next-Generation

Content Delivery Services to the Fortune 2000

Akamai Technologies, Inc., (NASDAQ:AKAM), the leading Content Delivery Service Provider (CDSP), and Broadwing Managed Hosting, a division of next-generation communications leader, Broadwing Inc. (NYSE:BRW), today announced a strategic agreement designed to enhance customers' Web site availability, scalability and performance.

Under the agreement, Broadwing will enrich its managed hosting and collocation services through the offering of Akamai's extensive portfolio of content delivery services including Akamai's EdgeSuite(SM) service, an integrated suite of services built on Akamai's global, fault-tolerant network.

As the Internet continues to become a critical business tool, the combination of Broadwing's best-of-breed managed hosting services and Akamai's leading, next-generation content delivery platform provides customers with a turn-key solution for creating high performing, reliable and scalable Web sites that become leading-edge platforms for business-critical Web applications.

Broadwing combines hosting services, Internet connectivity and the transport of customer data over its award-winning 18,500-mile nationwide network. Broadwing will be the first company in the industry to deliver an end-to-end, fully optical network, enabling customers with bandwidth that is infinitely scalable, instantly available and incrementally billable. Broadwing is uniquely qualified to deliver a complete data communications solution that allows its customers to fully integrate Web-based customer interfaces with their existing back office systems.

"Akamai's content delivery services are a strong complement to Broadwing's next-generation all-optical networking platform," said Dave Krikorian, general manager of Broadwing Managed Hosting. "The benefits of the EdgeSuite service are numerous and will help our customers solve complex problems associated with their web infrastructure in a cost effective, complete and manageable way."

"We're excited to expand our channel with the addition of Broadwing, a first-rate provider of application hosting solutions and Internet access services," said Chris Turner, vice president, channel distribution, Akamai. "Broadwing's commitment to combine Akamai's revolutionary services with its robust network and hosting platforms demonstrates its commitment to improve Internet performance. This alliance creates a powerful combination for IT executives who want greater manageability and control over their Internet data, and superior performance for their mission-critical Internet applications and content."

Akamai's EdgeSuite offering is an integrated suite of services that allows Web sites to reap the performance, scalability, and reliability benefits of content delivery across an entire Web site - including static and dynamic content, embedded objects, streaming media, and HTML. The EdgeSuite service enables the generation and delivery of all forms of content from optimal locations for each end user. Broadwing customers will be able to realize the benefits of massive scalability and uninterruptible Web site availability.

In addition to Akamai's EdgeSuite service, Broadwing will offer its customers Akamai's FreeFlow(SM), FreeFlow(SM) Streaming, FirstPoint(SM), and EdgeScape(SM) services for rapid, reliable content delivery, high-quality streaming media delivery, geo-location functionality, advanced global traffic management, Web usage reporting, and other performance benefits.

About Broadwing

Broadwing Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Broadwing Inc. (NYSE: BRW), combines unparalleled customer service with the industry's most advanced and flexible 18,500 mile next-generation fiber optic network and award-winning IP backbone, to create data and internet solutions that are innovative, reliable, and provide businesses a competitive advantage. Broadwing will be the first provider with a fully deployed optical network and sets the standard for customer accountability with the industry's only Installation Guarantee. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Austin, Texas, with 6,000 employees in 56 sales and service offices across the country, Broadwing can be found on the web at www.broadwing.com.

About Akamai

Akamai is the leading Content Delivery Service Provider, serving over 3,600 customers worldwide. Akamai has the broadest deployment of servers for content, streaming media, and applications delivery with more than 8,000 servers in 55 countries directly connected within 473 different telecommunications networks.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 

The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the dependence on Akamai's Internet content delivery service, a failure of its network infrastructure, the complexity of its service and the networks on which the service is deployed, the failure to obtain access to transmission capacity and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.