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Time Warner Telecom Launches Integrated Voice and Data Services to Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Businesses

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 March 2004, 06:00 CST

ALBANY, N.Y., March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Time Warner Telecom , a leading provider of managed voice and data networking solutions for businesses in New York and 21 other states, today announced the extension of its fiber optic network to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., from its Albany office 30 miles away, and the contract awards from two customers. The service extension brings cost-effective business communications services to the outlying city of 26,000 for the first time.

"We believe Time Warner Telecom's decision to extend its service to Saratoga Springs will help us attract businesses to our city," said Linda Toohey, executive vice president of Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. "Our quality of life and sense of community have been effective in attracting high-tech and financial services companies here. But as they grow, their need for communications bandwidth to serve that growth increases too. Now businesses have a highly cost-effective alternative to choose from when building out their communications infrastructure."

Time Warner Telecom will establish a hub Point of Presence (POP) at Skidmore College of Saratoga Springs from which it will deliver service to area businesses. These services include voice, data, dedicated Internet, metro Ethernet, and other integrated services designed to connect businesses across town or across the country, more efficiently.

Skidmore College has also signed a 3-year contract to receive ISDN PRI local and long distance service with 3,500 direct inward dial numbers, plus fractional DS3 Internet service. Service turnup is planned for the second quarter of this year.

"The Time Warner Telecom proposal was compelling," said Bret Ingerman, chief technology officer for Skidmore College. "We'll get the reliability we require from dual-entry pathways and SONET fiber connections, increase data bandwidth by two and a half times to meet student's insatiable bandwidth appetites, and provide local and long distance voice services campus-wide -- all for extremely competitive pricing."

Scalability and service provisioning speed were two additional factors in Skidmore's selection. "Students are accessing more and more data online so we'll definitely need to add bandwidth down the road," added Ingerman. "With Time Warner Telecom's fiber service, adding bandwidth is pretty straight forward. With alternative copper offerings, we would have had to endure a drawn out administrative nightmare to bring up T1s."

Saratoga Springs business Spa.Net has also contracted with Time Warner Telecom for 10Mbps Native LAN (metro Ethernet) data and ISDN PRI services. "Since we committed to expanding our business in Saratoga Springs, our only options have been to purchase data services from Albany at a much higher expense," said Rich Richbart, president and CEO of Spa.Net. "Also, because our ISP business is growing and our customers rely on highly available service, we simply can't use antiquated copper lines. Time Warner Telecom's fiber extension to our city is a key to helping us expand our business here."

"Cities like Saratoga Springs have a pent-up demand for fiber-based telecommunications services at a reasonable price," said Jeff Fiori, vice president and general manager for Time Warner Telecom in Albany. "Extending our service there was a logical business move which has been validated by the strong interest from area businesses we've seen so far in addition to contracts we've signed with Skidmore College, Spa.Net and others. Ultimately, we see ourselves offering leading technology and services to help community businesses grow and prosper."

About Time Warner Telecom Inc.

Time Warner Telecom Inc., headquartered in Littleton, Colo., is a leading provider of managed network solutions to a wide array of businesses and organizations in 44 U.S. metropolitan areas that require telecommunications intensive services. One of the country's premier competitive telecom carriers, Time Warner Telecom integrates data, dedicated Internet access, and local and long distance voice services for long distance carriers, wireless communications companies, incumbent local exchange carriers, and such enterprise organizations as healthcare, finance, higher education, manufacturing, hospitality, state and local government, and military. Please visit http://www.twtelecom.com/ for more information.

About Skidmore College

Skidmore, located in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., is an independent, liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students. With its relatively small size and student-faculty ratio of 11:1, Skidmore is a close-knit community of students and teachers. The college is known for its interdisciplinary curriculum, its outstanding faculty of teacher-scholars, and its emphasis on creativity in all areas of study. To learn more, please visit us at http://www.skidmore.edu/ .

About Spa.Net

Spa.Net located in Saratoga Springs, New York is a full service internet provider serving the Capital District Region of Upstate New York for over 15 years. Spa Net/Saratoga Online, Inc. specializes in Web Design, Programming, Database Development, Search Engine Positioning, E-commerce, Web Hosting, and Internet Service (Dial-up, DSL, Wireless, Broadband). For more information, please visit us at http://www.spa.net/ .

About Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce

Our mission is to initiate and provide programs and services which will enhance members' ability to successfully conduct their business. To enhance and promote a healthy climate, making the County an ideal place to live, work, and visit. To learn more, please visit us at http://www.saratoga.org/ .

http://www.skidmore.edu http://www.spa.net http://www.saratoga.org

Time Warner Telecom

CONTACT: Bob Meldrum of Time Warner Telecom, +1-303-566-1354,bob.meldrum@twtelecom.com

Web site: http://www.twtelecom.com/

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