Broadwing's Rick Ellenberger Sees Economic Conditions Rewarding Speed, Creativity, and Energy; Changing of the Guard Provides Opportunity for Next-Generation Providers.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2001

Rick Ellenberger, president and CEO of next-generation communications provider Broadwing Inc. (NYSE:BRW), discussed the industry and economic forces that are aligning to produce a changing of the guard in the communications industry, during remarks delivered at The Credit Suisse First Boston Global Telecommunications CEO Conference.

"I believe that the next breakthrough company in the communications space will not be driven entirely by assets or capital," said Ellenberger. "No matter how impressive these elements may be, they alone are not sufficient in today's hyper-competitive market."

"Leadership, particularly in these challenging economic times, will be driven by the energy and enthusiasm of a management team that gives life to its assets and attracts world-class people, business partners, and customers," he continued. "I find that more people fail from a lack of purpose than from a lack of talent or resources. In today's industry, I see a lot of talent and resources, but very little purpose."

Ellenberger described Broadwing's remarkable transformation from a one-city telephone company to one of the few next-generation providers that has the unique collection of assets, strong financial position, and management energy and commitment to lead customers into the next phase of the digital economy.

"Broadwing's industry-leading 18,500 mile IP network has the most capacity of any existing network," said Ellenberger. "Fortune 500 companies are already recognizing that liquid bandwidth, delivered over our optical IP network will be the enabler that transforms multimedia and content-rich applications into critical business drivers."

Ellenberger, recently named Smart Executive's Internet Executive of the Year, highlighted Broadwing's deployment of the world's first end-to-end fully optical network as the event that will provide customers with bandwidth that is `liquid' - defined as infinitely scaleable, instantly available, and incrementally billable.

Ellenberger also debunked the myth of a coming bandwidth glut. He described several variables that indicate reliable, deliverable bandwidth is still at a premium, and that the providers who are able to deliver it are still few in number.

Ellenberger offered several examples of the disruptive power of liquid bandwidth; including the experience of a major women's fashion retailer that used Broadwing's liquid bandwidth to scale their communications needs to handle an international fashion show broadcast live over the internet and successfully viewed by more than two million visitors.

"The beauty of the killer platform is not just that it can carry today's data, internet, and voice traffic faster and more efficiently, but that it enables customers to use multimedia and content-rich applications as vital business drivers," explained Ellenberger. "Make no mistake about it, static web pages, choppy multimedia, and limited audio and video content are no longer acceptable to today's leading companies. The next internet frontier will be populated by full-motion video, CD-quality audio, 3-dimensional imaging, and other content-rich applications."

About Broadwing

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.