MFN, AboveNet Implement $1.4 Billion Fiber Expansion Plan

Metromedia Fiber Network, Inc.
subsidiary AboveNet Communications,
Inc. Monday initiated a $1.4 billion broadband infrastructure expansion
plan.

When completed, the expansion will light nearly 29,000 route miles of
long-haul fiber in North America and Europe. The purely optical
infrastructure will be capable of handling multi-terabit per second
capacity in order to process bandwidth intensive applications.

The expansion will reach more than 67 cities and 14 new AboveNet Internet
Service Exchange (ISX) facilities. The overbuilt network design will enable
millions of users to simultaneously receive video, audio, and other
data-rich broadband applications that are not possible over existing
congested Internet networks.

Nick Tanzi, MFN (MFNX)
president and chief operating officer, said the optical buildout
underscores the value of the marriage between MFN and AboveNet.

“No other provider can deliver such a comprehensive network of optical
Internet architecture, connectivity and an end-to-end presence directly
into customer premises,” Tanzi said.

The network will seamlessly connect all AboveNet facilities, including its
three joint venture operations in Austria, Germany and the U.K.,
with AboveNet’s East Coast and West Coast hubs in Vienna, Va., and San
Jose, Calif.

David Rand, MFN and AboveNet chief technical officer, said with our own
end-to-end fiber network the company’s can avoid traditional telco delays
and respond to customers’ expansion needs immediately

“AboveNet is deploying an all-optical, terabit IP architecture to expand
and extend the company’s value proposition of better connectivity and
reliability to millions more Internet end users,” David Rand said.

The expansion will be completed in the next 12 to 18 months. The first nine
AboveNet facilities are scheduled to open this year, with the remaining
five facilities scheduled to open in 2001.