Ameritech.net Introduces DSL Internet Service to More than 87,000 Northwestern Ohio Customers

, , October 30, 2000

With the progress of the ambitious Project Pronto initiative, high-speed digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet service is now available to more than 87,000 Northwestern Ohio area homes and businesses, Ameritech.net announced today. The announcement heralds the widespread rollout of Ameritech.net DSL Internet service in Ohio, with nearly one million Ohio customers now in communities where high-speed DSL Internet service is available.

SBC Communications, Inc., Ameritech.net's parent company, is committed to bringing DSL Internet service to customers throughout Ohio, and the list of areas where service is available will continue to grow. Many customers in the Toledo, Findlay, Perrysburg and Maumee areas can now subscribe to Ameritech.net's SpeedPath high-speed DSL Internet service.

"Ameritech.net and SBC understand the importance of bringing reliable, high-speed Internet service 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 customers now have access to DSL Internet service, and we expect to make service available to many more consumers and businesses this year."

"In terms of importance to our state, we should think of DSL as the fifth mode of transportation," said Jim Smith, president of Ameritech Ohio. "Just as water, rail, highways and air corridors have been fundamental to Ohio's success over the years, broadband communications will be the information superhighway of tomorrow."

DSL technology 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 provides an "instant on" 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.

"Broad availability of DSL Internet service in the Toledo and Findlay areas are the most visible benefit of Project Pronto," said Coughlin. "Pronto 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 to 128 Kbps. 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 Kbps2. Downstream throughput speeds vary, depending on a customer's distance from the central office and other factors3.

Customers in Northwest Ohio can call 1-800-910-4369 or may visit www.ameritech.net for more information. Web site visitors can enter their address to determine if a DSL-equipped central office serves them.

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

2 Customers may consult Ameritech.net salesrepresentatives for details of service levels.

3 Connection speed is between the customer's premises and the DSL-equipped serving central office or DSL gateway. 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 21 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 and its affiliated companies 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 and is undertaking a national expansion program that will bring SBC service to an additional 30 markets. SBC has a 60 percent interest in Cingular Wireless, its joint venture with BellSouth, which serves 19 million wireless customers. Internationally, SBC has telecommunications investments in more than 20 countries and has annual revenues that rank it among the largest Fortune 500 companies.