Ameritech Announces DSL Service Now Available to Nearly 200,000 Dayton Homes, Businesses

Say Hello to Super Fast Internet: Fueled by Project Pronto, Company Brings DSL Broadband Service to Dayton

, , September 13, 2000

With the progress of the ambitious Project Pronto initiative, high-speed Internet service is now available to 200,000 Dayton area homes and businesses, Ameritech announced today. The announcement heralds the widespread rollout of Ameritech DSL in Ohio, with more than 1.2 million Ohioans now in communities where high-speed digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet service is available.

From Middletown to Springfield, many Dayton area residents now have DSL service available to them. SBC Communications, Inc., Ameritech's parent company, is committed to bringing DSL service to customers throughout Ohio, and the list of areas where service is available will continue to grow. Many customers in the Dayton area can now subscribe to SpeedPath, Ameritech.net's high-speed DSL Internet service.

"Ameritech understands the importance of bringing reliable, high-speed Internet access to Ohio residents and businesses," said Cathy Coughlin, president of Ameritech Consumer Markets. "Through Project Pronto, we're making a concerted effort to make DSL services available as fast as possible on a wide-spread basis. Many city and suburban customers now have access to DSL service, and we expect to make service available to many more residential and business customers this year."

DSL today enables customers to access the Internet or corporate networks at speeds up to 50 times faster than traditional 28.8 kilobits per seconds (Kbps) analog modems. DSL is also a dedicated connection that eliminates the need for dial-ups.

The DSL deployment is part of Project Pronto, a $6 billion initiative designed make SBC's DSL service available to approximately 77 million people by 2002.

"Wide-spread DSL availability in the Dayton area is the most visible benefit of Project Pronto," said Coughlin. "Pronto also is an important long-term investment in the states we serve. The initiative will improve the quality and reliability of our network, and ensure that members of our communities have access to advanced services."

To receive service today, the phone line running from a customer's home or business to a DSL-equipped central office must be no longer than 12,000 feet, or 2.2 miles, and must meet certain transmission criteria. As Project Pronto moves forward, Ameritech will deploy fiber deeper into neighborhoods and install neighborhood broadband gateways to bring capabilities now housed in central offices closer to customers to virtually eliminate the distance limitation in neighborhoods where the gateways are deployed.

Currently, Ameritech.net's SpeedPath 768 service provides downstream connection speeds up to 768 kilobits per second - 25 times faster than traditional 28.8 Kbps analog modems - and an upstream connection speed up 128 Kbps. Through a special promotion by Ameritech.net, customers can receive SpeedPath 768 with Prodigy and a DSL-ready Compaq Presario PC for $59.95 per month for 28-months².

For even higher speed, Ameritech offers additional SpeedPath options with downstream connection speeds up to 1.5 megabits per second - 50 times faster than a 28.8 Kbps modem - and upstream connections speeds up to 256 Kbps³. Downstream throughput speeds vary, depending on a customer's distance from the central office and other factors⁴.

Residential consumers in Dayton can call 1-800-910-4369 for more information. Business customers can call 1-800-TEAM-DATA (832-6328) for more information. Residential and business customers are also encouraged to visit http://www.ameritech.net/ for more information. Web site visitors can enter their area code and prefix to determine if a DSL-equipped central office serves them.

¹ SpeedPath service is provided by Ameritech Corp.'s ISP subsidiary, Ameritech Interactive Media Services.

² The promotion requires a 28-month term commitment, and substantial early termination charges apply. Shipping and handling charges of $89 are additional. To qualify for this offer, customers must have a good payment history. Global Service Provider charges are included in package price but due separately beginning with first month of service.

³ Customers may consult Ameritech.net sales representatives for details of service levels.

⁴ Actual data transfer or throughput may be lower than connection speed due to Internet congestion, server or router speeds, protocol overheads, and other factors that cannot be controlled by Ameritech.

Ameritech is the premier provider of communications services in the Upper Midwest, with nearly 20 million business and residential customers ? more than 22 million access lines ? across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. It is a company of SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com), a global communications leader. Through its subsidiaries' trusted brands - Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, Pacific Bell, SBC Telecom, Nevada Bell, SNET and Cellular One - and world-class network, SBC's subsidiaries provide local and long-distance phone service, wireless and data communications, paging, high-speed Internet access and messaging, cable and satellite television, security services and telecommunications equipment, as well as directory advertising and publishing. In the United States, the company currently has 61.2 million access lines, 12.2 million wireless customers and is undertaking a national expansion program that will bring SBC service to an additional 30 markets. Internationally, SBC has telecommunications investments in more than 20 countries. With approximately 219,000 employees, SBC is the 13th-largest employer in the U.S., with annual revenues that rank it among the largest Fortune 500 companies.