Interoute Launches North American Operations Headed by Telecommunications Veteran Les Hankinson.

Business & Technology Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 19, 2002

Interoute Americas, Representing Europe's Leading Fiber Optic

Network, To be Headquartered in Atlanta, with Offices

in New York and San Diego

Interoute (www.interoute.com), the London-based company behind i-21, the newest and largest Pan-European fiber optic network, has established a North American operation under the direction of veteran telecommunications executive Les Hankinson.

The new unit, Interoute Americas, will be headquartered in Atlanta with regional offices in New York and San Diego.

As Interoute's senior vice president sales and marketing-Americas, Hankinson will lead a five-person executive team, also announced today. The other team members are:

- Jay Belodoff, VP sales-Americas, who will head Southeast operations out of
the Atlanta headquarters;

- Michael Fazio, VP sales-Americas, who will head Northeast operations and be
based in New York;

- Brock MacLean, VP sales-Americas, who will head Western operations and be
based in San Diego; and

- Greg Bauer, executive director of sales-Americas, who will handle vertical
marketing - government and IP, out of Atlanta.

"The Interoute Americas team, headed by Les Hankinson, has strong experience in providing telecommunications services to North American businesses," noted Alan Lowe, CEO of Interoute's FutureCom Division. "Now, U.S. and Canadian companies seeking network services in Europe can be assured of expert local based service backing up our one-stop European network."

Hankinson, Fazio and MacLean all come to Interoute from FiberNet Telecom Group, a leading U.S. provider of metropolitan optical connectivity, while Belodoff and Bauer were most recently with QOS Networks Limited, a Dublin-based provider of new generation intelligent IP services.

In addition to having served as FiberNet's senior vice president sales and marketing, Hankinson's 29 years of experience in the telecommunications industry includes15 years spent internationally, in roles ranging from sales, marketing, product development, engineering and operations in both start-up and established companies. During his career, he has held positions with British Telecom, Sprint, MCI WorldCom, Satellite Business Systems, and Cable & Wireless.

Fazio, who served as national director of sales for FiberNet, has also held positions at British Telecom, LCI-Qwest, Path Group, Allnet Communications, Cable and Wireless, Western Union and GTE Sprint.

MacLean, who was FiberNet's regional vice president of carrier sales/bandwidth training, had previously been with WorldxChange Communications. He has also held sales positions in the software and media industries.

Belodoff was vice president of business development for QOS and had previously served in similar capacities at Netrail and British Telecommunications, as well as sales positions at Deutsche Telekom and AT&T.

Bauer previously served as executive director of corporate business development for QOS Networks Limited, a Dublin-based provider of new generation intelligent IP services. He served in similar positions with NetRail and AFTCO Inc. in Atlanta. He also held various positions at Fisher Scientific in Pennsylvania and with CRSI in Maryland.

About Interoute

Founded in 1995, Interoute (www.interoute.com) is a pan-European telecommunications company with established operations in 9 European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK).

Interoute's fibre-optic network connects 45 cities in 9 countries throughout Europe. The company has also built metropolitan area networks (MANs) in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome and Vienna. Its product portfolio includes optical network services (dark fibre, wavelengths, SDH and co-location), Internet services (Internet access and managed application hosting), MPLS VPNs and communications services (carrier services and business communications). Customers include other carriers, network operators, Internet and application service providers, and e-commerce companies.

A privately held company, Interoute is owned by a number of internationally based shareholders, the largest and major shareholder being the Sandoz Family Foundation (www.sandozfondation.ch), one of the world's largest private family foundations.