COI Cogent Comm Grp.

Cogent Wants to Eliminate Global Impact to Customers WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (AMEX:COI), a Tier 1 Internet Service provider, is requesting that Level 3 turn their side of the companies' Internet backbone peering connection back on immediately to thwart any further disruption of mutual customers' Internet service. Once traffic is being exchanged between the two networks, Cogent will discuss the peering situation with Level 3, anytime, anywhere. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020204/DCM032LOGO ) Cogent's CEO Dave Schaeffer stated, "We feel this situation can easily be resolved without more impact to the customers of either companies. The seriousness of the situation has been made abundantly clear, and for the sake of Internet users, Level 3 should turn the connection back on and both parties should sit down at the table to discuss the situation." Mr. Schaeffer went on to say, "In fact, Cogent is willing to offer Level 3 free Internet service across our network to help alleviate their financial situation while also discussing appropriate traffic ratios. Cogent feels allegations of inappropriate traffic ratios have been incorrectly articulated by Level 3. In fact, it is Level 3 who requested that Cogent send more traffic across their network since Level 3 charges by the bit, and increased traffic flow helps them financially." "Cogent's connection to Level 3 remains open, on and ready to accept their traffic. There is no situation that prevents them from turning on the connection other than a mindset that is willing to sacrifice customer connectivity at this specific point in time. Cogent feels that Internet users deserve better treatment while this situation is ironed out. That is why Cogent is appealing directly to Level 3 single-homed customers and offering them one year of free, dedicated Internet access to provide them with access to the full Internet, not just the Level 3 portion of it. This offer bypasses the problem, helps the customer attain full access to the Internet and eliminates the roadblock to Cogent's portion of the Internet. Cogent has already had significant success with this offer and will continue to make it available as long as the peering connection remains turned off by Level 3." About Cogent Communications Cogent Communications (AMEX:COI) is the number one provider of Ethernet services in the United States based on the number of ports in service as ranked by Ovum-RHK and is one of the fastest growing Tier 1 ISPs in the world. Its facilities based, all-optical network delivers ultra-high speed Internet access and transport services to businesses and service providers in major metropolitan areas. Cogent offers services across its 30,600-mile IP network spanning 12 countries located in North America and Europe. The combination of technology, IP network architecture and unique business model has combined to help make Cogent one of the most popular solutions for reliable, cost-effective Internet service in the industry. Cogent offers several focused services that complement its On-Net Internet access service including dedicated Off-Net (T1, T3) Internet service, colocation services in 30 data centers across North America and Europe, and Layer 2 Point-to-Point services in every On-Net market. Cogent Communications is headquartered at 1015 31st Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20007. For more information, visit http://www.cogentco.com/. Cogent Communications can be reached in the United States at (202) 295-4200 or via email at . Information in this release may involve expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to Cogent Communications Group, Inc. as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. The statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences. Some of the factors and risks associated with our business are discussed in Cogent's registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in its other reports filed from time to time with the SEC. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020204/DCM032LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Cogent Communications Group, Inc. CONTACT: Jeff Henriksen of Cogent Communications, +1-202-550-5493, , or Kristin Duskin-Gadd, +1-828-645-4846, , for Cogent Communications Web site: http://www.cogentco.com/

Copyright