Community College of Allegheny County Selects Fibertech For Local Fiber Optic Network.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PITTSBURGH and ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 2004

Dark Fiber Infrastructure Will Support Five College Buildings In Pittsburgh To Facilitate Deployment of High Speed Optical Network

Fibertech Networks, LLC, a leader in building and operating metropolitan-area fiber optic networks within mid-size U.S. cities, today announced that it will provide high-speed dark fiber optic network capacity to the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC), the nation's 16th largest multi-campus community college.

Fibertech is connecting five locations within the college -- its College Office administration building, and the Allegheny, Boyce, North and South campuses. Utilizing a ring configuration, this self-healing and redundant network will allow CCAC to dramatically increase the network capacity between its locations throughout the county and allow it to share and support numerous new bandwidth-intensive applications.

According to Dr. Christina Russell, CCAC Director of Information Technology Services, the college is utilizing a targeted model to provide broader access to new communications tools and technologies across its campus locations.

"Not only is it our college's mission to make quality education affordable and accessible to the community, but it is also to provide our students with superior technology resources with which to learn and achieve their career goals," she said. "This type of infrastructure will allow for faster development of new services, and expanded access and faster implementation of these services - all enhancing the experience and value of a CCAC education."

Under the terms of the agreement, CCAC will lease dark fiber, or fiber optics unlit by communications electronics, from portions of Fibertech's 221-mile network in Pittsburgh. Where necessary, the company will also build out fiber optic extensions directly into CCAC's buildings to create a seamless, scaleable infrastructure. CCAC will then "light" the network with its own equipment to deploy a high-speed optical network that meets its needs for today and allows for bandwidth growth and future application development.

"We're elated to assist CCAC in its vision of maximizing communications and information technology in the classroom and enhancing the delivery of educational services to the Pittsburgh community," said John K. Purcell, President and CEO, Fibertech Networks.

Fibertech has local metro networks operational in 14 mid-size cities including Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Binghamton, and Albany, New York; Indianapolis, Indiana; Columbus, Ohio; Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford, Bridgeport and New Haven, Connecticut; and Worcester and Springfield, Massachusetts. In addition, the company recently announced expansion plans to build networks in Stamford, Connecticut, and Wilmington, Delaware.

About CCAC

The Community College of Allegheny County is the nation's 16th largest multi-campus community college. With an annual enrollment of 90,000 credit and noncredit students, CCAC is also the largest provider of educational services in western Pennsylvania with more students per year than the universities of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, Robert Morris and Duquesne combined.

About Fibertech Networks

Headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., Fibertech Networks is a leader in building and operating fiber optic networks throughout mid-size cities in the Eastern and Central regions of the United States. The company has built metro-area networks strategically connecting local Telco central offices, carrier hotels, data centers, office parks and other high traffic locations. Fibertech recently placed sixth on the Rochester Top 100 list, which ranks privately held companies based on three years of revenue growth.

Founded in 2000 and privately held, Fibertech investors are led by Nautic Partners of Providence, R.I., and Banc of America Capital Investors of Charlotte, N.C. Further information about the company can be found at www.fibertech.com.