Cbeyond Praises Landmark FCC Vote against Forbearance.

ATLANTA -- Cbeyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBEY), a leading IP-based managed services provider to small businesses, today announced that last Tuesday's decision by the Federal Communications Commission to deny Verizon's request for relief from certain network sharing requirements means that Cbeyond will be able to move forward with its plans to enter markets like Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Pittsburgh over the next several years.

For the past fifteen months, the Federal Communications Commission has been considering Verizon's request to be allowed to stop providing wholesale access to its network at cost-based, regulated rates in six metropolitan areas: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence and Virginia Beach. In a landmark vote on Tuesday, the FCC denied all six of the Verizon petitions and thereby paved the way for the continued growth of facilities-based competition in these markets.

The FCC took a careful look at competitive data for these cities and determined there was not enough competition to warrant the relief requested by Verizon. "We applaud the FCC for this historic vote in favor of competition," said Jim Geiger, chief executive officer of Cbeyond. "Chairman Martin together with Commissioners McDowell, Tate, Copps and Adelstein recognized that a return to a Verizon monopoly would harm consumers and businesses and voted unanimously to keep in place the rules that have driven so much telecommunications innovation over the past decade. The FCC's action will permit competitive telecommunications providers to continue developing innovative products and services for delivery to millions of businesses and consumers every day."

Geiger further expressed his appreciation for the work that Congress did to support this outcome: "Many principled legislators on both sides of the aisle, notably members of the House Telecom and Internet Subcommittee, led by Chairman Ed Markey, worked hard to ensure that the forbearance process was fair and open and considered all relevant data. The diligence with which they exercised their oversight responsibilities has benefited consumers and businesses across the country."

About Cbeyond

Cbeyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBEY) is a leading IP-based managed services provider that delivers integrated packages of communications and IT services to more than 33,000 small businesses throughout the United States. Cbeyond offers more than 20 productivity-enhancing applications including local and long-distance voice, broadband Internet, mobile, BlackBerry[R], broadband laptop access, voicemail, email, web hosting, fax-to-email, data backup, file-sharing and virtual private networking. Cbeyond manages these services over a private, 100-percent Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) facilities-based network. For more information on Cbeyond, visit www.cbeyond.net.

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