Dominion Telecom Completes Fiber Network Between Washington, D.C., and Chicago

March 4, 2002

MIAMI, Fl. -- Dominion Telecom, an affiliate of Dominion (NYSE: D) that provides facilities-based broadband services, announced Monday at the Competitive Telecommunications Association Convention the expansion of its fiber network along a 1,000-mile route between Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Dominion Telecom's extension into Chicago -- a vital hub for serving smaller metropolitan areas in the Midwest -- also includes network extension into Toledo, Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio; Detroit, Mich.; Pittsburgh, Johnstown and Harrisburg, Penn.; Hagerstown, Md.; and Washington D.C.

"This is one of the most economically dynamic corridors in the Northeast and integral to providing reliable and cost-effective broadband solutions throughout the region," said Gregg Kamper, senior vice president and general manager. "Lit capacity services will be available along the route within the next 90 days while dark fiber sales already have generated a significant return on our initial investment."

Dominion Telecom serves the wholesale marketplace including wireless service providers, competitive and incumbent local exchange carriers, Internet service providers, interexchange carriers, application and managed service providers, and content providers. The company offers both standard and custom broadband solutions of private line (DS3 - OC192) capacity, 2.5 and 10 gigabits-per-second wavelength services, collocation, high-speed Internet access and superior customer service.

The company offers nationwide coverage for services originating east of the Mississippi, focusing on second-tier and third-tier cities across the eastern United States. Its geographic reach covers 42 percent of the United States' population and contains more than 60 percent of the U.S. telecommunications market, representing 5 million businesses.

Dominion Telecom's fiber network consists of 6,500 route miles and includes metropolitan fiber networks in New York City, Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Richmond, Va. Dominion Telecom intends to expand its fiber optic network to more than 16,000 route miles by the end of 2003, including the addition of approximately 36 metro networks and entry into 44 new markets.

 


About Dominion Telecom
Dominion Telecom is a facilities-based, interexchange and emerging local carrier that provides broadband solutions (private line, wavelengths, dark fiber, Internet and collocation) to wholesale customers throughout the eastern United States. The company is expanding its fiber-optic network from its current 346,000 fiber miles (6,500 route miles) to more than 400,000 fiber miles (16,000 route miles) by the end of 2003. For more information, visit Dominion Telecom's Web site at www.dominiontel.com.

About Dominion
Dominion, headquartered in Richmond, Va., is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a production capability of more than 3 trillion British thermal unit of energy per day. Its 22,000-megawatt generation portfolio is expected to grow to more than 26,000 megawatts by 2005. For more information about Dominion, go to www.dom.com.