Great Hill Partners

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4.17.2000
Edge Connections Launches High-Speed Dsl-Based Broadband Services For Atlanta's Multi-Tenant Office Buildings And Parks

ATLANTA - Edge Connections, Inc., the first full-service broadband communications provider to offer affordable and reliable Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)-based services, today announced the launch of its multi-tiered offerings in the Metropolitan Atlanta area. The company provides low-cost Internet access, voice, data, video and e-commerce capabilities to small and medium-sized businesses, which have been underserved until now as competitors have focused on large corporations and conglomerates. Edge Connections estimates it will make 30 multi-tenant office buildings in Atlanta "DSL ready" in the next 30 days. This rollout is the first in a series of regional deployments planned for major metro areas in the coming months.

Edge Connections delivers broadband capabilities by placing DSL equipment in each multi-tenant office building, transforming that building's existing telephone wiring into a broadband network capable of running at speeds up to 6 MBPS, five times faster than a costly T1 line. The small-footprint DSL equipment is about the size of a laptop computer, and creates a broadband superhighway in the building without expensive and intrusive construction, such as re-wiring the riser with optical fiber or Ethernet cable. By leveraging the existing phone wires, Edge Connections' rapid deployment process can make any building in the Atlanta area DSL ready in roughly two hours. This is a significant improvement over the weeks and months businesses typically wait for riser construction, or for local carriers to provision high-speed lines.

"Our DSL network overcomes the provisioning problems and distance limitations that have plagued other DSL providers," said Jim McKenna, president and CEO of Edge Connections. "We hear repeatedly from small and mid-sized tenants in Atlanta's multi-tenant office properties that DSL service has been hyped and promised but rarely delivered. Until now. By moving the intelligence of the network closer to the business customer, Edge Connections virtually guarantees the consumer the ability to get Edge (DSL) connected. We're proud to be the first broadband service provider to deliver high-speed communications services to Atlanta's underserved business community."

Edge Connections VP of Marketing Ben Petro commented, "We can provide DSL service to the 75% of multi-tenant office buildings that have been inaccessible to other DSL providers. This represents a great opportunity to provide small to medium-sized businesses with the best enabling technology in existence. There are approximately 300 Class A office buildings representing 10,384 business tenants in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. The majority of these businesses are locked out of high-speed data services due to the cost of access or inability to have DSL provisioned to their location. Our solution is flexible and deploys rapidly, using the building's existing copper phone lines.

About Edge Connections Headquartered in Atlanta, Edge Connections transforms the ordinary copper telephone wire found in multi-tenant properties into a broadband network through the use of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology. By pushing broadband intelligence and technology to the network edge, closer to the business user, the Company delivers the market's only 100 percent qualified, guaranteed business-class DSL - the DSL solution businesses can get even when it is unavailable from other sources, such as Central Office-based DSL vendors. Edge Connections delivers a full suite of broadband services to small and medium sized business, including high-speed Internet, voice, video, data and e-business services. These services help companies to unlock the potential of their business via leading-edge technology and multi-tiered solutions tailored to individual business needs. The Company also targets multi-tenant residential and Enterprise customers. Edge Connections has created the only network architected from day one to handle sensitive voice traffic with guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS), and requires no large investment in building riser construction. Edge Connections is a facilities-based broadband provider, founded by Jim McKenna in 1999. It is funded by leading venture capital firm Great Hill Partners and the Megunticook Fund. For more information contact Edge Connections, Inc., (877) 796-EDGE or visit www.edgeconnections.com.