BELLSOUTH LAUNCHES 'E-PLATFORM' FOR BUSINESS.

BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) has introduced its "e-Platform" for business, harnessing the power of its extensive fiber-based network to deliver the speed, reliability and security required for today's mission critical e-business applications.

The initiative, supported by newly opened BellSouth e-Business Centers in Atlanta and Miami, will leverage the company's existing network-based infrastructure and support capabilities as part of a distributed e-business platform strategy. BellSouth's e-Platform will provide a variety of e-business services, including dedicated and custom hosting solutions, managed storage, managed security, content distribution, caching services, disaster recovery and Application Service Provider (ASP) services. The result will be a highly reliable and scalable e-business platform that brings the advantages of a world-class network, enabled for e-business.

BellSouth will be using solutions from Qwest Communications and Sun Microsystems to support its "e-Platform" and take advantage of the exploding business-to-business (BtoB) and business-to-consumer (BtoC) marketplace, valued at some $2.7 trillion nationally by the year 2004. The market opportunity represented in support of these Internet-enabled initiatives in the Southeast is valued at some $4-6 billion over the same period.

BellSouth is defining new standards of performance and reliability associated with the Internet and Internet-enabled services. BellSouth's e-Platform provides unique "bunker-like" security and reliability against potential natural and man-made disasters because BellSouth utilizes "battle-tested," existing facilities that have weathered hurricanes like Hugo, Andrew and Floyd. BellSouth is also building upon some three million miles of fiber optic cable, 1,650 central offices, 50 BellSouth Managed Facilities, 15,000 Sonet rings and over 500 fast-packet switches with its e-Platform initiative. Business customers get the advantage of reduced latency, better performance, continuous availability, improved caching, greater bandwidth and speed, and closer proximity to their end-users.

The new BellSouth e-Business Centers will host a broad spectrum of application services in secure locations, extending BellSouth's existing network capabilities and historical strengths in service reliability, real-time availability and customer service to support today's growing web-based economy. The first two Centers, each about 100,000 square feet and operational in Atlanta and Miami, are already home to at least a dozen new businesses, including HispanB2B.com, Willow, Omega Networks, and Advanced Data Center. An additional four BellSouth e-Business Centers are planned to open in the next 12-24 months. And, because BellSouth is developing the Centers using existing "hardened" data center facilities, the company can bring new Centers online in half the time of its competitors.

BellSouth is leveraging its existing relationship with Qwest to extend its network reach across the U.S. and to international locations. The BellSouth e-Business Centers are built in accordance with specifications that enable business customers to gain direct, high-speed access to the Internet and connect to Qwest's global broadband Internet network and CyberCenter(sm) facilities.

Under the relationship, Qwest also receives an option to use up to 25,000 square feet in each BellSouth e-Business Center to provide customers with basic, complex and custom Web hosting and managed applications services.

The BellSouth e-Business Centers will also include hardware, software and professional services from Sun, as part of multi-year agreements valued at $450 million between the two companies. Services offered through the BellSouth e-Business Centers will be "SunTone-certified" for quality and delivery. Sun will recommend BellSouth for Web hosting and network services in the Southeastern U.S. In addition, BellSouth will select Sun as its preferred vendor for UNIX-based solutions.

"Years ago, Sun started telling the world that 'The Network is the Computer, and a lot of people thought we were crazy," noted Ed Zander, president and COO of partner company Sun Microsystems. "But companies like BellSouth understood what we were talking about. They've been providing network-based services - in the form of dial tone - for years.

"Now the market has matured to the point where businesses are ready for applications and services to be delivered by a service provider rather than managed and maintained in-house. We believe BellSouth is in a great position to become one of the leading service providers by leveraging its network expertise, its people and its partners' capabilities."

BellSouth also has announced several distribution partners to open new sales channels, and enable new and existing business partners to leverage the BellSouth e-Platform for their customers. The results will be expanded market coverage and increased revenues for BellSouth and its business partners, and expanded solution alternatives for customers. The first partners to participate in this innovative channel initiative include: iXL, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, and Advanced Data Center. Programs have been established that will allow these business partners to resell BellSouth e-Business Center services, exchange sales leads, and team with BellSouth to jointly pursue sales opportunities. BellSouth expects to add other system integrators and ASPs over the coming months as part of an aggressive campaign establishing BellSouth as the preferred platform for e-business.