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Optimum Lightpath Drives Metro Ethernet Adoption By Funding Conversion Costs, Cutting Ongoing Business Communications Expenses in Half

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 October 2005, 15:00 CDT

New Marketing Campaign Highlights More Than $30,000 In Conversion Cost Savings Available To Each New Qualified Business Customer, In Addition To Dramatically Lower Monthly Bills

Optimum Lightpath(R), the business telecommunications services division of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC), today announced an aggressive new marketing campaign that encourages businesses across the New York metropolitan area to switch to Lightpath's more reliable and efficient Metro Ethernet voice and data communications services, by raising awareness of the dramatic cost savings possible through Metro Ethernet and lowering existing barriers to converting to the new technology.

The "Switch Now and Save Thousands" campaign articulates the unsurpassed reliability and performance Optimum Lightpath delivers with its Carrier Grade Ethernet service - while addressing conversion costs through an offer to assume these costs while also paying for the necessary fiber link to the business location, incentives that could be worth more than $30,000 to each business customer.

Featuring video, Internet and direct-mail components, the campaign emphasizes Optimum Lightpath's 17-year history of reliability and its ability to use Metro Ethernet to dramatically improve performance and lower ongoing communications costs charged by legacy telephone service providers.

"An analysis of business telecommunications costs on Long Island alone shows that businesses with more than 20 employees are currently overspending on communications services by more than $200 million per year," said Dave Pistacchio, executive vice president and general manager of Optimum Lightpath. "Ninety-five percent of businesses around the world already use Ethernet to enable their computers to communicate with each other. Metro Ethernet extends the simplicity of this technology from the local to the wide area network, making it easier, more reliable and far more efficient for companies to deploy mission-critical applications that require large amounts of bandwidth."

To eliminate the most significant barrier to Metro Ethernet adoption, Optimum Lightpath is offering businesses across the metropolitan area a credit for up to $7,500 for conversion costs (i.e., installation fees, router costs, professional services, software, hardware, etc.) associated with the switch to Metro Ethernet. Optimum Lightpath will also cover the cost of running fiber optics to pre-qualified buildings - a combined average savings of more than $30,000.

"Metro Ethernet services are vital to network transformation. Like the Internet, Metro Ethernet has the potential to significantly improve an organization's ability to compete," said Bryan Van Dussen, director of service provider research for In-Stat/MDR. "Because Ethernet services provide significant capacity and a compelling TCO, businesses can cost-effectively deploy high-performance, content-rich applications necessary to thrive in what has become an increasingly competitive business environment."

In January 2005, Lightpath introduced its highly-reliable Metro Ethernet product line that is offered at very high speeds (10 Mbps up to 10 Gbps) and delivered via fiber optics that run directly to the business location. These Ethernet circuits can be used for high-capacity data transfer, Internet access or a combined Internet access/voice services bundle at a relatively inexpensive cost per bit.

"The first hundred business customers that have adopted Metro Ethernet through Optimum Lightpath have realized considerable cost savings, while substantially increasing bandwidth. Clearly, Optimum Lightpath's Metro Ethernet services are already delivering on their promise for these organizations," said Phil DeCabia, Optimum Lightpath's Senior Vice President of Sales. "Other businesses that switch to our Metro Ethernet services will also be able to save thousands of dollars annually on their current telecom spending, while dramatically increasing capacity - an unbeatable combination that puts Optimum Lightpath in a superior competitive position."

Businesses interested in learning more about Optimum Lightpath's new Metro Ethernet services promotion can visit http://www.metroethernetnow.com/ or call 1-877-LIGHTPATH.

About Optimum Lightpath

Optimum Lightpath, a business telecommunications services division of Cablevision Systems Corporation, uses the power of its own reliable and resilient fully fiber optic network to deliver converged, IP-based data, Internet, and voice solutions to businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area. Over the past 17 years, Optimum Lightpath built an advanced Fiber-to-the-business-Premises network that has over 2400 route miles of fiber optic cables throughout the tri-state area. As a result of owning and maintaining this state-of-the-art network, Optimum Lightpath can better ensure the quality of the customer experience, while delivering reliable, high bandwidth business communications services at lower prices. Optimum Lightpath now provides its customers with a variety of scalable, high-capacity IP-based Metro Ethernet services (E-LAN and E-Line) to support high bandwidth data, Internet and voice applications, while also delivering highly personalized customer service unparalleled by competing service providers.

About Cablevision

Cablevision Systems Corporation is one of the nation's leading entertainment and telecommunications companies. Its cable television operations serve 3 million households in the New York metropolitan area. The company's advanced telecommunications offerings include its iO: Interactive Optimum digital television, Optimum Online high-speed Internet, Optimum Voice digital voice-over-cable, and its Optimum Lightpath integrated business communications services. Cablevision's Rainbow Media Holdings LLC operates several successful programming businesses, including AMC, IFC, WE and other national and regional networks. In addition to its telecommunications and programming businesses, Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden and its sports teams, the New York Knicks, Rangers and Liberty. The company also operates New York's famed Radio City Music Hall, and owns and operates Clearview Cinemas.

Source: Business Wire

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