Cloud Centric Solution for Carrier Voice Gains Acceptance

The online study, conducted in the first half of the year solicited feedback from CSPs in North, Central and South America ranging from the state of their voice business, overall satisfaction with current voice platforms, and network evolution options and plans.

A key conclusion from the study is, while CSPs remain committed to the delivery of voice services, the limitations of current voice platforms are challenging their ability to deliver nimble strategies to meet customer demands. In response to this, the survey shows, CSPs will embrace cloud solutions for infrastructure and are receptive to the new CVP solution for voice platform evolution. The white paper notes, the strong showing for CVP is due to attributes including, low TCO (total cost of ownership), zero CapEx requirements, and a more agile service delivery model.

In 2013, Level 3 announced Carrier Cloud Voice Solutions, a wholesale voice solution as part of a partnership arrangement with Alianza. The solution combines Level 3's Enhanced Local Service and Alianza's Cloud Voice Platform for a complete VoIP solution for service providers to launch voice services or replace aging networks and legacy wholesale services. This solution addresses complete service provider requirements for a full suite of VoIP and Unified Communications services for residential and business customers.

Key Facts:

• 36 percent of respondents believe their current voice platform will reach end of life in the next three years
• Adoption of a Cloud Voice Platform ranks among the top three priorities for voice platform evolution
• For some CSPs, the emerging Cloud Voice Platform model represents the most sensible approach for addressing their TCO and platform evolution requirements
• CSPs remain committed to voice services because it enhances their overall services portfolio: 81 percent of respondents view voice as driving adoption or growth of other services

Key Quotes:

Jim Hodges, Senior Analyst, Heavy Reading
After years of deploying traditional voice network platforms, CSPs are ready to shift to the cloud. By adopting a cloud voice platform, CSPs can reduce operating costs and enhance service innovation while delivering a service model that benefits customers and their evolving voice communications needs.

Kevin Dundon, Executive Vice President, Alianza
Heavy Reading's study reveals pain in today's voice networks. Increasingly communications service providers are recognizing the benefits of a cloud voice platform and see how the cloud can provide simplicity and a better business model to meet the needs of their customers.

Shaun Andrews, Senior Vice President Voice Services, Level 3, Communications
Voice is a critical aspect of how we do business. It can also be an expensive investment, consuming a significant amount of capital and the time of internal resources to deploy, manage and upgrade. As the study shows, CSPs have an opportunity to provide a comprehensive cloud-based voice solution as existing platforms begin to reach their end of life cycle, enabling customers to focus on growing their business not voice communications.

Resources:

• Heavy Reading White Paper: Migrating Service Provider Voice Infrastructure to the Cloud
• Carrier Cloud Voice Brochure
• Carrier Cloud Voice Video

About Heavy Reading
Heavy Reading, the research division of Light Reading, offers deep analysis of emerging telecom trends to network operators, technology suppliers and investors. Its product portfolio includes in-depth reports that address critical next-generation technology and service issues, market trackers that focus on the telecom industry's most critical technology sectors, exclusive worldwide surveys of network operator decision-makers that identify future purchasing and deployment plans, and a rich array of custom and consulting services that give clients the market intelligence needed to compete successfully in the global telecom industry.

About Alianza
Alianza radically transforms communications delivery so that service providers thrive with strong margins, better service, and elegant management. Alianza's Cloud Voice Platform is a web-scale, turnkey virtualized software solution that enables cable, mobile, telco and other broadband providers to customize rapidly, launch and profit from VoIP and UC services. The power of Alianza's cloud delivers a lower total cost of ownership and a clear business case for VoIP with a zero-CAPEX, success-based SaaS model. This new way to deliver voice service untangles service providers from the restraints of old-school voice networks and accelerates innovation and growth.

About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is a Fortune 500 company that provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. Level 3's comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; IP-based voice and data communications; wide-area Ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud-based solutions. Level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries across a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities. For more information, please visit www.level3.com or get to know us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

© Level 3 Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Level 3, Vyvx, Level 3 Communications, Level (3) and the Level 3 Logo are either registered service marks or service marks of Level 3 Communications, LLC and/or one of its Affiliates in the United States and elsewhere. Any other service names, product names, company names or logos included herein are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Level 3 services are provided by subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc.

The information contained under the captions "About Heavy Reading and Alianza" have been provided by Heavy Reading and Alianza and are solely their responsibility.

Forward-Looking Statement
Some statements made in this press release are forward-looking in nature and 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. Important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to: increase revenue from its services to realize its targets for financial and operating performance; develop and maintain effective business support systems; manage system and network failures or disruptions; avert the breach of its network and computer system security measures; develop new services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; manage the future expansion or adaptation of its network to remain competitive; defend intellectual property and proprietary rights; manage risks associated with continued uncertainty in the global economy; manage continued or accelerated decreases in market pricing for communications services; obtain capacity for its network from other providers and interconnect its network with other networks on favorable terms; successfully integrate future acquisitions; effectively manage political, legal, regulatory, foreign currency and other risks it is exposed to due to its substantial international operations; mitigate its exposure to contingent liabilities; and meet all of the terms and conditions of its 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.

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SOURCE Level 3 Communications, Inc.

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