4/17/00
NEXTLINK Launches Wave of DSL, Data, Web Hosting, Internet, and Value Added Voice Services
McLEAN, VA - NEXTLINK Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXLK), one of the nation’s fastest growing providers of broadband communications services, today launched an extensive suite of broadband Internet services, including Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), hosting and value added voice services throughout most of their broadband networks across the United States.
Code named "Generation Next," the newly added services allows NEXTLINK to offer fully integrated local, long distance, Internet and Web hosting services in most of its markets throughout the United States. With the new suite of voice and data services, NEXTLINK now fully serves customers as an integrated communications provider (ICP). Billing for the services will be delivered to NEXTLINK customers on one billing statement. On-line billing, via the NEXTLINK.com web site is now in beta testing and is expected to be available in the near future for customers who would like to review their billing information via the Internet.
"During the past four years, customers across America have been choosing NEXTLINK service because we have offered high value voice products, unusually good customer service and single source accountability," said Nancy Gofus, NEXTLINK’s chief marketing officer. "Today is an important day for NEXTLINK’s current and prospective customers because we can now offer a full range of broadband data services that are designed to be easy to buy, easy to sell and very hard to walk away from if you’re a customer."
Beginning today, NEXTLINK will offer two types of Internet access service. For those customers who need cost effective, "always on" Internet connections, NEXTLINK will offer NEXTLINK DSL, with speeds up to 1.544 Mbps, in most of its markets across the United States. NEXTLINK’s DSL options will include ISDN digital subscriber line service (IDSL) with speeds up to 144 Kbps, symmetrical digital subscriber line service (SDSL) with speeds up to 1.5 Mbps and asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) services with speeds up to 1.5 Mbps to the customer downlink and 384Kbps from the customer uplink.
For customers who require high bandwidth Internet connections with higher levels of service and guaranteed throughput and availability, NEXTLINK will offer Internet Access Service at speeds from 56 Kbps to 45 Mbps. NEXTLINK customers will also have the opportunity to select Integrated Access Service, a value bundle of services, with Local Voice, Long Distance and Internet services utilizing the same T-1 access facility. NEXTLINK will also provide managed customer premises equipment. In many cases, NEXTLINK will utilize its IP-centric, broadband fiber and, eventually, broadband wireless networks to provide these services.
NEXTLINK also launched a variety of data center offerings including NEXTLINKhost Dedicated and Shared web hosting and e-commerce services. EasySite, one NEXTLINKhost offering, is a powerful, step-by-step tool allowing customers to create their own web sites and on-line stores capable of processing sales and secured transactions across the Internet.
"We now have voice and data services to satisfy businesses with basic data needs. Additionally, we now support our customers who need a real presence on the Web by helping them to build a web site, host the site, and ultimately expand their site with ecommerce capabilities when our customer is ready," continued Gofus. "The key to these new services is, when purchased in a bundle, they can give customers significantly more value and make their telecommunications experience easier because NEXTLINK has integrated the services, billing and purchasing process for them."
Several of the services announced today are available through a private label agreement with Concentric Network (NASDAQ:CNCX), one of the nation’s leading data and Internet Services companies. As a part of the agreement, Concentric will provide NEXTLINK with extensive sales training and customer care support.
NEXTLINK will deploy a "data overlay" sales force to complement the company’s direct sales force to sell the new products. These data sales specialists will provide data services expertise as a resource for the current sales force. Both the direct sales people and the data specialists have undergone extensive data services training in the weeks proceeding today’s service launch.
"This joint effort to amass a set of integrated communications services, that spans both voice and data, provides a powerful solution for NEXTLINK’s customers," said Mark Fisher, senior vice president of marketing at Concentric. "We have worked closely with the sales force at NEXTLINK to offer extensive product training and role play modeling. As a result, the NEXTLINK sales team is positioned to quickly deliver a truly unique set of assets and services to the marketplace."
Earlier this year, NEXTLINK and Concentric announced an agreement to combine the two companies. The merger is expected to close in the second quarter of this year. Together, the two companies will have an unrivaled set of broadband network assets coupled with leading positions in virtual private networks, web hosting and DSL service to the small and medium enterprise market.
In addition to a number of data products, NEXTLINK also introduced several value added voice services including calling cards and conference calling capabilities. The conference calling services can include a live conference call coordinator, Web document conferencing, password protection and call replay services. It is estimated that nearly 40 percent of existing NEXTLINK customers use or need conference calling services.
NEXTLINK provides high quality, broadband communications services to businesses over fiber optic and broadband wireless facilities across the United States currently serving 49 U.S. markets. The company is the largest holder of broadband fixed wireless spectrum in North America, with licenses covering 95 percent of the population in the top 30 markets in the United States. NEXTLINK plans to use wireless capabilities to complement and extend the reach of its local fiber optic networks in the markets in which NEXTLINK has spectrum. Additionally, NEXTLINK is acquiring exclusive rights to use certain fibers and a conduit throughout a 16,000-mile high-speed, IP-centric fiber optic backbone network that will connect over 50 cities in the United States and Canada. The network is expected to be finished in 2001, with NEXTLINK turning on segments of the network during 2000. Through this unrivaled collection of facilities, NEXTLINK will provide integrated, end-to-end telecommunications solutions to its customers.
For more information contact:
Todd Wolfenbarger / XO Communications
Media and Industry analysts
703-547-2011 or 703-675-3496
