Level 3 Selected by Funcom as Exclusive CDN Provider for the Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures Online Game

Broomfield, Colorado (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Level 3's CDN Supports High-Volume Traffic Spikes for
Multi-player Online Game

Level 3 Communications' Content Markets Group today announced
that it has been selected by Funcom, a leading independent developer
and publisher of computer and console games, to be that company's
exclusive provider of content delivery network (CDN) services for the
Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures online game launch and ongoing
content patching. Level 3's content delivery services enable Funcom
to deliver game updates during times of extremely high-traffic
volumes.

"The Age of Conan was developed with the latest technologies to
be the next generation of massive multi-player online games (MMOG),"
said Ole Schreiner, vice president of operations at Funcom. "Funcom
needed a Tier 1 CDN provider that could provide the quality,
dependability and scalability to support critical game patch update
files at all times. With the Age of Conan launch, one of the largest
MMOG releases in history, Level 3 has proven that it can deliver game
patch updates without issue during peak traffic times of extremely
large flash crowds as hundreds of thousands of players log in to play
the game."

Under the terms of the agreement, Level 3 is delivering origin
storage, caching and download services to provide potentially
hundreds of gigabytes per second (Gbps) of on-demand capacity for
game patch updates. Funcom's developers regularly update the Age of
Conan as the game evolves. These updates are delivered with software
patches to the online game via Level 3's CDN and need to be delivered
smoothly to not interrupt the participation in the game by hundreds
of thousands of players. During the first 60 days of the Age of Conan
launch, the Level 3 CDN delivered over 2 petabytes (the equivalent of
over 1 million high-quality online movies) of game patch updates to
the Age of Conan players.

"We are pleased to collaborate with Funcom to deliver the
scalable, high-quality services that the growing online gaming
community requires," said Grant van Rooyen, president of Level 3's
Content Markets Group. "The rich graphic and video environments
Funcom delivers require very large amounts of bandwidth, and Level
3's global network and robust content delivery services are
specifically designed to serve the needs of companies that require
quality and dependability in the delivery of large-file content."

Level 3's content delivery network is designed to accommodate
rich media content for large online audiences. Its CDN improves the
speed and efficiency with which large-file, high-volume content
traffic is delivered. The speed, quality and reliability that are
delivered with these services are keys to providing the real-time
user experience demanded by online gamers today.

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 http://www.Level3.com.

Level 3 Communications, Level 3, the red 3D brackets and the
Level 3 Communications logo are registered service marks of Level 3
Communications, LLC and/or 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,
product or company names recited herein are 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 company's ability to: successfully integrate
acquisitions; increase the volume of traffic on the network; defend
intellectual property and proprietary rights; develop new products
and services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable
margins; successfully complete commercial testing of new technology
and information systems to support new products and services; 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.

Web site: http://www.level3.com

ots Originaltext: Level 3 Communications
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Media, Jennifer Daumler, +1-720-888-3356, or Investors, Valerie
Finberg, +1-720-888-2501, or Mark Stoutenberg, +1-720-888-2518, all
of Level 3 Communications. Photo: NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990721/LVLTLOGO, AP Archive:
http://photoarchive.ap.org, PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com