News for and about the Internet2 community

[Lauren Rotman <>]

Level 3 and Internet2 Deliver Trans-Atlantic and U.S. Network Link to  
Large Hadron Collider in Europe

BROOMFIELD, Colo. and ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 12, 2009 - Level 3  
Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:  LVLT) and Internet2 today announced an  
expanded relationship to provide trans-Atlantic and U.S. network  
connectivity for U.S. LHCNet. The network will transport data from the  
Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a massive particle accelerator spanning  
the French-Swiss border, to more than 1,700 scientists at 94  
institutions across the United States.

U.S. LHCNet provides dedicated, high-bandwidth connectivity between  
CERN [European Organization for Nuclear Research] and the two “Tier 1”  
U.S. sites, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Brookhaven  
National Laboratory, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy  
(DOE) Energy Science Network (ESnet). The network also shares support  
in connecting the U.S. and Europe to the many universities and  
laboratories – called Tier 2 and Tier 3 sites – where researchers will  
analyze LHC data. U.S. LHCNet is funded by the DOE Office of High  
Energy Physics and managed by the California Institute of Technology  
(Caltech).

Under the agreement announced today, U.S. LHCNet, Internet2 and Level  
3 will connect a major network hub in New York City to the LHC in  
Switzerland. This connection will link to the Internet2 national  
backbone, ESnet and many regional networks to make LHC data accessible  
to U.S. scientists. The Internet2 and Level 3 connections will also  
allow scientists worldwide to access and analyze the large volumes of  
LHC data to be processed within the U.S.

“We are very glad to work in partnership with Internet2 and Level 3,  
in support of the LHC scientific program,” said Harvey Newman,  
professor of physics at Caltech and principal investigator of U.S.  
LHCNet and a member of Internet2’s Architecture and Operations  
Advisory Council. “Their combined expertise and cost-effective  
delivery are compelling. We also look forward to working with them to  
develop state-of-the-art networks for data intensive science, applying  
the methods and tools developed by our Caltech team and our  
collaborators for reliable, high throughput over continental and trans- 
oceanic routes, both for the LHC and the global scientific community.”

“Together, Level 3 and Internet2 offer LHC scientists the high-speed  
networking capabilities and connectivity to drive scientific  
collaboration across borders,” said Rob Vietzke, executive director of  
Network Services for Internet2. “As the research and education  
community continues to reach for new scientific milestones, we are  
pleased to partner with Level 3 to provide the critical network  
reliability and scalability required for scientists to participate in  
cutting-edge research projects.”

The LHC is the world’s largest particle accelerator, built and  
operated by CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The LHC is the first major  
global scientific research initiative to completely depend upon  
network connectivity and a sophisticated data distribution model to  
enable the worldwide collaboration of thousands of scientists. An  
estimated 15 million gigabytes of LHC data per year will be  
transported to eleven Tier 1 sites around the world via the U.S.  
LHCNet, together with Internet2’s national backbone, ESnet, GEANT2  
Network in Europe, the U.S. regional networks, and the European  
national research and education networks, then processed, analyzed and  
distributed to several hundred Tier 2 and Tier 3 sites for further  
analysis.

“Level 3 continues to work with Internet2 to advance the network  
technology available to research and education institutions across the  
country,” said Andrew Crouch, president of Level 3’s Wholesale Markets  
Group. “Level 3 is excited to deliver trans-Atlantic connectivity to  
LHC and provide a vital link for American research scientists to share  
data and collaborate with their peers around the world.”

The LHC has been nicknamed the “Big Bang Machine” because scientists  
will use it to recreate the cosmic conditions one trillionth of a  
second after the big bang, in hopes of finding insights into the  
origins of matter. It consists of a 27 kilometer tunnel and cathedral- 
sized caverns 100 meters underground. The accelerator magnets that  
guide the beams on their circular orbit are super cooled to a  
temperature just slightly above absolute zero, which is colder than  
outer space. It will accelerate matter to 99.999999% of the speed of  
light.

About Internet2

Internet2 is the foremost U.S. advanced networking consortium. Led by  
the research and education community since 1996, Internet2 promotes  
the missions of its members by providing both leading-edge network  
capabilities and unique partnership opportunities that together  
facilitate the development, deployment and use of revolutionary  
Internet technologies. Internet2 brings the U.S. research and academic  
community together with technology leaders from industry, government  
and the international community to undertake collaborative efforts  
that have a fundamental impact on tomorrow's Internet. For more  
information: http://www.internet2.edu.


About Level 3 Communications

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) is a leading international  
provider of fiber-based communications services. Enterprise, content,  
wholesale and government customers rely on Level 3 to deliver services  
with an industry-leading combination of scalability and value over an  
end-to-end fiber network. Level 3 offers a portfolio of metro and long- 
haul services, including transport, data, Internet, content delivery  
and voice. For more information, visit www.Level3.com.


© Level 3 Communications, LLC.  All Rights Reserved.  Level 3, Level 3  
Communications and the Level 3 Communications Logo  are either  
registered service marks or service marks of Level 3 Communications,  
LLC and/or one of its Affiliates in the United States and/or other  
countries.  Level 3 services are provided by wholly owned subsidiaries  
of Level 3 Communications, Inc.  Any other service names, product  
names, company names or logos included herein are the trademarks or  
service marks of their respective owners.


Forward-Looking Statement

Some of the statements made in this press release are forward looking  
in nature. These statements are based on management’s current  
expectations or beliefs. These forward looking statements are not a  
guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties  
and other factors, many of which are outside Level 3’s control, which  
could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or  
implied by the statements. The most important factors that could  
prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not  
limited to, the current uncertainty in the global financial markets  
and the global economy; disruptions in the financial markets that  
could affect Level 3’s ability to obtain additional financing; as well  
as the company’s ability to: successfully integrate acquisitions;  
increase the volume of traffic on the network; defend intellectual  
property and proprietary rights; develop effective business support  
systems; manage system and network failures or disruptions; develop  
new services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable  
margins; attract and retain qualified management and other personnel;  
and meet all of the terms and conditions of debt obligations.  
Additional information concerning these and other important factors  
can be found within Level 3’s filings with the Securities and Exchange  
Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in  
light of these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to,  
and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its  
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,  
future events, or otherwise.



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