December 5, 2001 -- Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT) announced plans to significantly expand its European network.

The company plans to begin offering services in eight additional markets across Western Europe in 2002. The markets are Geneva, Madrid, Milan, Stockholm and Zurich, and the German cities of Cologne, Karlsruhe and Stuttgart.

Level 3 plans to acquire wavelengths or other existing lit capacity from other carriers operating in the region, over which it can offer a full complement of communications services to its customers.

Level 3 offers a range of communications services targeted toward the world's top 300 bandwidth customers, including wavelengths, private line, dark fiber, managed modem and IP services. Level 3's current customers include companies such as America Online, BT, Cable & Wireless, COLT Telecom Group, France Telecom and Microsoft.

O'Hara noted that the company's decision to use wavelengths or other existing lit capacity will enable it to expand at a fraction of the cost that would be required with new construction. Level 3's existing, two-ring network in Europe spans 3,600 route miles. It connects London, Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris and the German cities of Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin and Munich. The company also operates multi-conduit metropolitan networks in all nine markets.

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