Covad Selected to Demonstrate DSL Jumpstart Install Kit at VORTEX 2001.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2001

Covad's JumpStart Kit is the First DSL Self Installation Kit

Designed with the Consumer Experience In Mind

Covad Communications (Nasdaq:COVD), the leading national broadband services provider utilizing DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology, will demonstrate its new DSL JumpStart Install Kit at the VORTEX 2001 conference in Laguna Niguel, Calif. on May 22-24, 2001.

"By offering the new DSL JumpStart Install Kit, Covad makes it easier for people to install DSL and quickly experience the benefits of persistent broadband," said Jim Forbes, editor of DEMOletter and producer of the DEMO @ VORTEX segment.

The Covad DSL JumpStart Kit provides residential users the flexibility and freedom to install their DSL connection as their schedule permits. Consumers no longer have to take a day off work and wait at home for a DSL technician to arrive. Once a residential DSL order is placed and approved through an affiliated Internet or broadband service provider or Covad's Web site (www.covad.com), a DSL JumpStart Kit is shipped to the customer's home within approximately ten days.

Abhi Ingle, Covad's vice president of Product Development and Marketing, will demonstrate the Covad DSL JumpStart Kit's simple, three-step installation process during the on-stage DEMO @ VORTEX segment. While a standard consumer self-installation is expected to take approximately 30 minutes, Ingle plans to demonstrate the installation process to the VORTEX audience in less than six minutes. The installation process includes: preparing the house by attaching DSL blockers to every telephone, connecting the DSL modem to the computer, and installing software that will automatically connect the computer to the Internet.

"Consumer feedback about the self installation kit has been extremely positive," said Ingle. "Users are especially happy that once the DSL JumpStart Kit arrives on their doorstep, their phone line in most cases has already been provisioned and is DSL ready, so there is no more waiting -- they can immediately install it and be up and running with broadband in minutes."

VORTEX 2001

VORTEX is the only industry conference aimed at senior executives in the converged Internet, telephone, and television networking industries. Amidst the turmoil of this market's new technologies, alliances and business models, VORTEX gathers top communications investors and executives to focus on real business opportunities. VORTEX, which takes place May 22-24, 2001 at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, inspires discussion and debate on the trends in major industry sectors -- from the wireless market to Internet infrastructure -- as well as the regulatory and political issues that influence these trends.

DEMO at VORTEX Segment

Two of IDG Executive Forums' leading conferences come together, as VORTEX joins forces with DEMO producers, Chris Shipley and Jim Forbes, to showcase the hottest new technologies in the Internet, telephone and television networking markets.

About Covad Communications

Covad is the leading national broadband services provider of high-speed Internet and network access utilizing Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology. It offers DSL, IP and dial-up services through Internet Service Providers, telecommunications carriers, enterprises, affinity groups, PC OEMs and ASPs to small and medium-sized businesses and home users. Covad services are currently available across the United States in 109 of the top Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Covad's network currently covers more than 40 million homes and business and reaches approximately 40 to 45 percent of all U.S. homes and businesses. Corporate headquarters is located at 4250 Burton Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95054. Telephone: 888/GO-COVAD. Web Site: www.covad.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation 

Reform Act of 1995

The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are "forward- looking statements," including statements concerning Covad's ability to file its financial results, become profitable, plans to expand its network, market opportunities, the cost, of the deployment of Covad's network and launching of its services, Covad's ability to recover past amounts paid to local exchange carriers, implementation of line sharing and self-installation, anticipated capital expenditures, expense reductions and other operating results, and the success of strategic relationships. Actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks facing Covad or actual results differing from the assumptions underlying such statements. Such risks and assumptions include, but are not limited to, Covad's ability to successfully market its services to current and new customers, the consolidation of sales to a fewer number of wholesale customers, Covad's ability to generate customer demand, to achieve acceptable pricing, to respond to increasing competition, to manage growth, to receive timely payment from our Internet service providers and other customers, to access regions and negotiate suitable interconnection agreements, all in a timely manner, at reasonable costs and on satisfactory terms and conditions, as well as regulatory, legislative, and judicial developments. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the "Risk Factors" and other cautionary statements included in Covad's SEC filings.