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BendBroadband Selects Level 3 as Underlying Provider for New Business Voice Services


WEBWIRE

BROOMFIELD, Colo., November 29, 2006 - Level 3 Communications’ Wholesale Markets Group today announced that it has expanded its relationship with BendBroadband to serve as the underlying service provider for BendBroadband’s new Business Voice Service offering.

Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, BendBroadband, an Oregon-based cable operator, will use the Level 3® VoIP Enhanced Local service to provide small and medium-sized businesses with a new, cost-effective solution for local and long-distance calling. BendBroadband Business Phone will include enhanced voicemail, E-911 service and popular calling features such as caller ID, call waiting and 3-way calling.

“We are proud to be at the forefront of extending facilities-based, digital phone capabilities to businesses,” said Amy Tykeson, chief executive officer of BendBroadband. “BendBroadband Business Phone is an affordable and innovative new service with unique features that are not available from traditional providers. Level 3 enables us to deliver the same broad coverage and high level of reliability to businesses that our residential voice customers have come to know and expect. We are delighted to bring true choice to the small business community in Central Oregon.”

“We believe that the small and medium business market offers a great growth opportunity for BendBroadband – and for all cable operators,” said Rich DiGeronimo, vice president and general manager of cable markets for Level 3. “Level 3 provides the core voice infrastructure that enables cable providers to quickly and cost-effectively bring dependable voice services to market, and to easily scale their offerings to meet increasing demand from small and medium businesses. We applaud BendBroadband for quickly bringing solutions to small and medium businesses, and we are looking forward to working closely with them on this important new initiative.”

The Level 3 VoIP Enhanced Local service supports BendBroadband’s local, long distance and international voice traffic, providing voice origination, voice termination and directory listings. The service also enables BendBroadband to connect its customers to the public switched telephone network which allows those customers to make calls to anywhere in the world. .

Level 3’s VoIP Enhanced Local Service
Level 3’s VoIP Enhanced Local service provides the essential components required to offer reliable and high-quality local voice service. These components include network trunking, local numbers, local number portability, E-911, operator assistance, directory listings, and directory assistance. The Level 3 VoIP Enhanced Local service also enables Level 3 customers to manage and control end-user features to customize the service for their end-user customer.

About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT), an international communications company, operates one of the largest Internet backbones in the world. Through its customers, Level 3 is the primary provider of Internet connectivity for millions of broadband subscribers. The company provides a comprehensive suite of services over its broadband fiber optic network including Internet Protocol (IP) services, broadband transport and infrastructure services, colocation services, voice services and voice over IP services. These services provide building blocks that enable Level 3’s customers to meet their growing demands for advanced communications solutions. The company’s Web address is http://www.level3.com/.

“Level 3 Communications,” ”Level 3" and the Level 3 Communications logo are registered service marks of Level 3 Communications, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Any other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Level 3 services are provided by wholly owned subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statement
Some of the statements made by Level 3 in this press release are forward-looking in nature. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Level 3 believes that its primary risk factors include, but are not limited to: increasing the volume of traffic on Level 3’s network; developing new products and services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; successfully completing commercial testing of new technology and information systems to support new products and services, including voice transmission services; stabilizing or reducing the rate of price compression on certain of our communications services; integrating strategic acquisitions; attracting and retaining qualified management and other personnel; and the ability to meet all of the terms and conditions of our 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 release should be evaluated in light of these important factors.



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