BellSouth Leads Industry in Development of Next Generation Internet Exchange in South Florida.

Business Editors

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 7, 2000

Supported by FPL Fibernet, Qwest, IWC, UUNET,

Intermedia, NETRAIL and Diveo

BellSouth Corp. (NYSE: BLS) has joined other leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and communications companies to create an unprecedented switched optical Internet exchange in South Florida. Participants in the venture include FPL Fibernet; Intermedia; Qwest; International Wireless Communications (IWC); NETRAIL, Diveo and UUNET, a WorldCom company. Other ISPs are expected to join in the coming weeks. The exchange's optical network, with speeds from DS-3 and Gigabit Ethernet to OC-192 and DWDM, is the first Network Access Point (NAP) in the country to incorporate these technologies and represents a significant step toward next generation multimedia applications over the Internet.

Named the Florida Multimedia Internet eXchange (FloridaMIX), the exchange will carry Internet traffic through the region's multiple termination points for fiber optic cables, linking data traffic between the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Western Europe. BellSouth, which has acted as the industry's catalyst to coordinate the effort and will also host the Internet exchange, has developed an innovative wide-area, fiber optic infrastructure to support new services like voice over Internet, video over Internet, and other digital media and broadband capabilities. Implementation is scheduled to begin late summer and expected to go "live" by the end of the year.

"The support we've received from participating ISPs validates the technology and the approach we've taken," said Bill Smith, BellSouth's Executive Vice President of Network Planning and Chief Technology Officer. "The FloridaMIX will provide a carrier-neutral hub for ISPs to efficiently handle global bandwidth demands. In addition, Latin America is one of the fastest growing areas in the world for Internet access. Very high-speed fiber links between our regions are being installed now. We felt it was imperative to have a high-speed, secure and reliable capability for supporting new multimedia Internet services."

The FloridaMIX will be available to all ISPs and does not require any purchase of transport from BellSouth in order to participate. BellSouth will utilize high-speed, switched fiber to create the fastest public Internet exchange infrastructure in the U.S. The sophisticated provisioning and network management capabilities of this platform will allow the turn-up of additional network capacity via software in an environment where traffic demands double every two to three months.

The FloridaMIX infrastructure and services will include:

-- Scaleable speeds from DS-3 and Gigabit Ethernet to OC-192 and

DWDM on a wide-area, switched optical network

-- SONET, ATM, and other fiber options for virtual Internet

exchange connections

-- Router/server co-location

-- 24x7 management/facility monitoring by remote and onsite

personnel

-- Category five storms/hardened facility

-- Managed security/building access

-- Support for public or private peering arrangements

-- Customer network management of optical VPN services

BellSouth's technical design for the exchange involves multiple connection points throughout Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. This Wide Area Network infrastructure will maximize connectivity to major ISP points of presence (POPs) and other Internet-related businesses throughout the tri-county area. This innovative network architecture will ensure the service is easily reached, and has the redundancy to avoid service interruptions as well as survive major storms.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush has been a strong supporter of placing a Tier 1 NAP in South Florida. Regarding today's announcement, Bush said, "Florida, in particular the South Florida area, has always been the nation's gateway to Latin America. BellSouth's announcement will have a far-reaching impact that will extend beyond the Internet Coast, throughout the state of Florida, and across the Western Hemisphere. The FloridaMIX will spur economic growth and cement South Florida as the Internet gateway to the world."

Earlier this year, the Florida legislature, led by state Sen. Ron Klein (D-Boca Raton) and Rep. Louis Rojas (R-Hialeah), passed a bill lending its support towards the creation of a Network Access Point for South Florida.

About BellSouth

BellSouth is a $26 billion communications services company. It provides telecommunications services, Internet, data and e-commerce applications, wireless communications, cable and digital TV, and online and directory advertising to more than 40 million customers in 18 countries worldwide.