[May 05, 2015]

Path-breaking 100-Gigabit Connections Between Level 3 and CENIC Networks

Level 3 Communications (News - Alert) (NYSE: LVLT) and the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) are pleased to announce the completion of the first 100-Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) Research and Education connection to Level 3's global network. CENIC has established links to Level 3's network in both San Jose and Los Angeles, Calif., delivering an unprecedented 200 gigabits per second of Internet capacity to California institutions. This upgrade complements the recent 100G backbone upgrades that CENIC had completed last year throughout California.

These two upgrades of CENIC's California Research & Education Network (CalREN), the 3,800-mile fiber-based advanced network, provide new advantages to the Golden State's research and education communities, including: the California K-12 System, California's Community Colleges, the California State University System, the University of California System, and many private universities including Caltech, Stanford and USC, California's public libraries, as well as a rapidly growing list of other institutions.

Nearly 10,000 sites are connected to CalREN, and with this Level 3 capacity, the more than 20 million Californians who use CalREN will be able to create and engage in even more advanced and innovative teaching and learning methods as well as cutting-edge global research in a large and ever-increasing variety of network-dependent disciplines.

"This upgrade of CENIC's ability to deliver cost effective bandwidth to our members keeps CENIC ahead of the increasing bandwidth demands," said Dave Reese, vice president of Infrastructure Planning at CENIC. "Level 3's network continues to deliver the performance and capacity necessary to support California's technology-enabled education and research activities, and the timing of this enhancement couldn't be better as we are connecting more than 1,100 public libraries across California to CalREN."

Bill Clebsch, associate vice president for IT Services at Stanford University, and chair of CENIC's Board of Directors, noted that, "The CENIC network carries nearly 30PB (PetaBytes) of monthly traffic, and this rate is growing at more than 30 percent per year, so increasing our capacity to the commodity Internet commensurately is critical to serve CENIC'sdiverse members."

"Increasingly, connectivity is the currency of growth and opportunity in California's communities, and CENIC enables Californians to access and explore the digital universe through innovations to CalREN like our new connections to Level 3," said Louis Fox, CENIC's CEO and president.

"There's no doubt that some of our nation's greatest discoveries have come from our research and education institutions, and Level 3 is proud to provide the network support needed to grow this important community," said David Young (News - Alert), regional vice president of the Government Markets Group at Level 3. "With 100G connectivity, schools and universities across California will have the added speed, reliability and quality network services needed to foster stronger learning opportunities and continue to innovate."

About Level 3 Communications • www.level3.com

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is a Fortune 500 company that provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. Level 3's comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; IP-based voice and data communications; wide-area Ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud-based solutions. Level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries across a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities. For more information, please visit www.level3.com or get to know us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About CENIC • www.cenic.org

CENIC connects California to the world-advancing education and research statewide by providing the world-class network essential for innovation, collaboration and economic growth. This nonprofit organization operates the California Research & Education Network (CalREN), a high-capacity network designed to meet the unique requirements of over 20 million users, including the vast majority of K-20 students together with educators, researchers, and other vital public-serving institutions. CENIC's Charter Associates are part of the world's largest education system; they include the California K-12 system, California Community Colleges, the California State University system, California's Public Libraries, the University of California system, Stanford, Caltech, and USC. CENIC also provides connectivity to leading-edge institutions and industry research organizations around the world, serving

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