Atlantic.Net Press Releases

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla (8/26/03) — Progress Telecom, a leading provider of broadband services, has announced that Atlantic.Net, one of the nation’s fastest-growing private Internet service providers, has purchased the company’s new Fast Ethernet service. Atlantic.Net worked with Progress Telecom to develop the initial product requirements and is now using the service to connect three Orlando metro sites to its new tier-one data center.

The order closely follows the launch of Progress Telecom’s newly expanded Ethernet portfolio. Progress Telecom now can provide point-to-point, high speed Ethernet transport at rates ranging from 10Mbps to 1 Gbps, offering customers maximum flexibility. Services are offered throughout the company’s expansive network, both metro and long haul.

“Our Ethernet services package, combining the simplicity of traditional Ethernet service with the speed and reliability of an optical network, is available throughout our extensive East Coast network, ” said Ron Mudry, president and CEO. “We’re delighted Atlantic.Net has signed on for Fast Ethernet, becoming the first company to take advantage of our expanded portfolio. Our Ethernet services are scaleable, giving our customers flexibility to grow bandwidth along with their businesses—quickly, simply and efficiently. We anticipate that the package will be popular with carriers, ISPs and ASPs, as well as high-end enterprises that face the need to transport large volumes of data.”

The applications for Progress Telecom’s Ethernet services are numerous, enabling high speed Internet access and interconnection between switches, as well as connectivity between data centers and carrier hotels.Notably, they provide cost-effective, reliable connectivity between Storage Area Networks within a metro.Such networks are growing rapidly.

“Progress Telecom’s Fast Ethernet provides the perfect combination of decreased latency, improved speed, cost-effectiveness and a simpler configuration to accommodate our growth and to ease network management,” said J. Neal Hiscock, Atlantic.Net’s director of operations. “Atlantic.Net is a fast-growing, innovative technology company and has a large customer base with demanding bandwidth requirements. We are excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Progress Telecom team to develop this new product which is well-suited for our needs.”

Progress Telecom’s Ethernet services are backed by industry-leading Service Level Agreements (SLAs), including a network reliability of 99.9 percent. The company’s hurricane-hardened Network Operations Center is fully redundant and staffed around the clock with highly trained and experienced technicians ensuring industry-leading trouble resolution and repair intervals.

About Progress Telecom

Founded in 1998, Progress Telecom provides broadband telecommunications services throughout the Eastern United States. Progress Telecom incorporates approximately 135,000 fiber miles and 8,230 route miles in its network including over 165 Points-of-Presence (POPs). The fiber network serves as the backbone of OC-192 transport that allows customers enhanced data transport capabilities in the Eastern United States from New York to Miami, FL, in first, second and third-tier growth markets and access to Latin America through its International Gateways. The network’s utility-based infrastructure also offers fast local loop access through metro fiber rings that move broadband capacity closer to the customer with 10 gigabit dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) technology.The company is headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL; it has a sales presence in Miami and an office in Raleigh, N.C., which provides sales, engineering, IT and field personnel serivces. Progress Telecom is owned by Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), a Fortune 250 diversified energy company headquartered in Raleigh with more than 23,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $8 billion in annual revenues. For more information about Progress Telecom, visit the company’s website at http://www.progresstelecom.com

About Atlantic.Net

Launched in 1994, Atlantic.Net is an Internet service provider offering high-speed Internet access, Web services, telecommunications and dial-up. Atlantic.Net business services feature 24/7 network monitoring and connection to an optimized Cisco Powered Network — a designation reserved for the world’s top 1 percent of ISPs. Atlantic.Net has been named to the Inc 500 list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies for three consecutive years. During the past nine years Atlantic.Net has acquired 15 Internet companies, has doubled or tripled revenues annually and has remained profitable every year since inception. Atlantic.Net’s staff has grown to nearly 100 employees who regularly participate in the Alachua County Guardian ad Litem drive to provide toys for needy children at Christmas and in local United Way, American Cancer Society and March of Dimes charity events. Atlantic.Net is headquartered in Gainesville, Fla. with a tier-one data center in Orlando and a sales office in Tampa.