NorthEast Optic Network Accelerates Collocation Initiative.

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 1999--

NorthEast Optic Network, Inc. ("NEON(R)") (NASDAQ:NOPT) announces the opening of 4 new fiber optic operations facilities as part of its advanced fiber optic network infrastructure, which calls for 22 planned Points of Presence (POPs) throughout the Northeast. The four facilities, or POPs, are located in Hartford, CT, Boston, MA, Manchester, NH and Portland, ME. NEON(R)'s POPs allow its carrier customers to collocate with NEON(R) to connect with the world. This initiative will address the expansive Internet and data-driven bandwidth requirements of the business and residential markets.

The POPs are the engines of NEON(R)'s fiber optic network, containing sophisticated optronic and electronic equipment as well as the latest generation of fiber that provides connectivity for other telecommunications carriers and for their customers. A POP allows a NEON(R) customer, such as an Internet Service Provider (ISP), a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), a Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) or an Interexchange Carrier (IXC) to collocate their electronic equipment with NEON(R)'s equipment in the same building, and thereby provide their customers increased connectivity throughout New England, into New York City and across the country on other networks. In short, the POPs are NEON(R)'s primary operating centers on the network that receive, enhance and transmit voice and data traffic across the Northeast region on glass filament fibers. One fiber has the capacity to carry 960 billion bits. That is the equivalent of 15.6 million phone calls, simultaneously.

The new POPs in Hartford, Boston, Manchester and Portland will allow more telecommunications carriers to serve more communities throughout the Northeast, and in effect, meet increased demand for bandwidth as well as stimulate competition among telecom carriers - a goal of the Congress when it deregulated telecommunications in 1996.

NEON(R)'s Chairman and CEO, Vincent Bisceglia, said: "Our commitment to providing our carrier customers with enabling bandwidth technology and a total network solution is further evidenced by our expansion into collocation services. Our "carrier class" Points of Presence (POPs) provide a connecting point for our carrier customers to access the NEON(R) Network.

NEON(R)'s POPs also address the critical network element space requirements that confront all emerging CLECs and ISPs as well as the more established LECs and IXCs. The strategic positioning of our POPs, especially those serving as major collocation facilities, will enable direct access to the most substantial bandwidth consumers in the region. These 4 sites represent the first phase of our planned 22-site program. This initiative is an essential milestone toward our objective to become the industry's leading 'carriers' carrier'."

The Hartford, CT POP is located at 960 Main Street in the former G. Fox Building. The Boston, MA POP is centered at 56 Roland Street in Charlestown. The Manchester, NH POP is contained within the Hesser Center just south of Downtown Manchester and the Portland, ME POP is based at 1 City Center.

Telecommunications carriers such as Network Plus Inc., CTC Communications Corp., HarvardNet, Cyberzone Inc. and Lightship Telecom LLC will use the NEON(R) POPs to serve customers in some or all of the 4 cities.

NorthEast Optic Network, Inc. ("NEON(R)") is a facilities-based "carriers' carrier" providing technologically advanced, high-bandwidth, fiber optic transmission capacity for lease to communications carriers on the Company's interstate, intrastate (city to city) and local loop facilities. The NEON(R) network encompasses approximately 1,000 fiber optic cable route miles containing more than 65,000 fiber strand miles in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine. The NEON(R) system connects more than 540 cities and towns in six states, and passes through or past more than 200 Points of Presence (POPs), tandem switches and central offices, which the Company believes serve over 18 million people and over 470,000 businesses.

"NEON(R)" is a registered trademark of NorthEast Optic Network, Inc.

(NOTE: This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements concerning future plans for expansion and completion of the NEON(R) system. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including those risks detailed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-534410) and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and should be read in light of these risks. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information contained in this news release)