Continental Cablevision uses Sun servers as foundation for national rollout of high-speed Internet access service.

NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 1997--At Cable `97 today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW) and Continental Cablevision, Inc. said that Sun servers will play an important role in Continental's recently announced plans to roll out its Highway1 high-speed Internet access service in new markets across the U.S.

Continental will use scalable Sun Ultra Enterprise and Netra servers in a number of innovative ways to provide its customers with next-generation Internet services that exploit cable's high bandwidth to provide fast response time, faster data downloads and even streaming audio and video -- making the World Wide Web more interactive than ever.

Continental Cablevision, the domestic cable arm of U S WEST Media Group (NYSE:UMG), recently announced plans to offer high-speed Internet access in several markets across the U.S., including Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta. Highway1 service is already available in Boston, Detroit and Jacksonville. U S WEST Media Group is the nation's third largest cable systems operator.

Continental is using Sun Ultra Enterprise and Netra servers -- based on Sun's symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) architecture, and running Sun's scalable, multithreaded Solaris operating environment -- for both local applications such as "caching" popular Web sites for instant response, and mission-critical back-end applications such as Web hosting, provisioning, network management and support for Continental's existing billing and customer care systems.

Sun servers will also enable the various cable modems used in different geographic markets (General Instruments' SURFboard, Motorola and LANcity) to be integrated into an advanced end-to-end solution.

Because cable networks are comprised of many heterogeneous systems, from front-end consumer devices such as cable modems and set-top boxes to headquarters business support systems for billing, interoperability is a key requirement. Sun servers are providing a high degree of interoperability for the various systems required to provide the high-speed Highway1 service.

Using high-capacity coaxial cables and fiber lines, Continental delivers Internet access at speeds up to 100 times faster than traditional phone-based modems, providing customers with very fast response times and the ability to receive streaming audio and video.

"Sun today offers tremendous products that deliver scalable, distributed, Internet-based solutions for our broadband data program," said Paul Bosco, director of broadband infrastructure and services development at Continental.

"Sun servers form a key component in our end-to-end integrated solution that supports not only cable modems from General Instruments, Motorola and LANcity, but our Digital Subscriber Loop (DSL) telecom-based technologies as well. As we continue our national rollout, Sun's scaleable solutions have delivered as promised."

"Continental's Highway1 service combines two exciting technologies: full Internet services, plus high-speed access that will startle people who've been frustrated by sluggish response when they're online," said Doug Ehrenreich, director of telecommunications and cable market development at Sun Microsystems Computer Company.

"Highway1 is a prime example of how progressive cable operators can harness advanced yet commercially proven Internet-based technologies to provide the kind of service their customers are demanding." -0- Continental Uses Sun servers to:

-- communicate with its existing Cable Data and CSG billing, subscriber management and customer care systems -- eliminating the need to do extensive integration of new Internet services with legacy billing systems.

-- deliver a core set of Internet head-end services, including e-mail; Web hosting and browsing; newsgroups and chat sessions; electronic commerce; and security. These services will be hosted on 12 enterprise-class Ultra Enterprise 5000 servers based in six regional production centers.

-- support advanced services such as audio and video streaming, providing true online multimedia and enabling an entirely new type of interactive experience.

-- provision, deliver and maintain Internet services to subscribers.

-- "cache" or pre-load the most popular Web sites onto distributed Ultra Enterprise 150 servers in each market, providing very fast access to these sites. -0-

Bosco cited Sun's ability to integrate with its Cable Data and CSG billing systems, as well as with other legacy systems, as especially important. This enables Continental to bring new services to market quickly, while leveraging their existing systems for billing and customer support.

Continental Cablevision, Inc., a unit of U S WEST Media Group (NYSE:UMG), is the nation's third largest broadband telecommunications provider, serving more than 4.8 million subscribers in 19 states. U S WEST Media Group is involved in domestic and international cable and telephony, wireless communications and directory and information services.

For 1996, Media Group reported proportionate revenues of $6.4 billion. Media Group is one of two major groups that make up U S WEST, a company in the connections business, helping customers share information, entertainment and communications services in local markets nationwide. U S WEST's other major group, U S WEST Communications, provides telecommunications services in 14 western and midwestern states.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ:SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $7 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com . -0-

Note to Editors: Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Solaris, Ultra, Ultra Enterprise, Netra, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems are available on the Internet via the World Wide Web using a tool such as Netscape or NCSA Mosaic. Type http://www.sun.com at the URL prompt.

CONTACT: Sun Microsystems Computer Company

Debra Woods, 415/786-5214

or

Continental Cablevision

Rob Stoddard, 617/854-3138

or

Burson-Marsteller for Sun

Ted DuPont, 212/614-4562