BROOMFIELD, Colorado, July 21 /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

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