Level 3 Communications, Inc.(NYSE:LVLT) THINK AHEAD!

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Level 3), incorporated in December 10, 1985, is a facilities-based provider of a range of integrated communications services. The Company has created its communications network by constructing its own assets and through a combination of purchasing other companies and purchasing or leasing facilities from others. Its network is an international, facilities-based communications network. Level 3 provides communications services to a range of wholesale and enterprise customers. Wholesale customers may use its services as a component in their own offering of telecommunications services to their customers. Enterprise customers use its services for their own needs. It further subdivides enterprise customers into four subgroups: large enterprise customers, which consist of its roughly 1,000 largest enterprise customers other than content customers; government customers; mid-market customers, which are enterprise customers other than large enterprise customers, and content customers.

Level 3’s fiber optic network has extensive reach across North America, Europe and Latin America, as well as under the oceans connecting those three regions. To connect its networks in North America, Europe and Latin America, as well as to connect its network to cities in other parts of the world, Level 3 owns several undersea cables and have purchased capacity on cables owned by others. Level 3 owns more than 35,000 route miles of undersea fiber optic cables worldwide. In addition, capacity it has purchased on others' undersea cables allows it to offer services in Asia, Africa and Australia. Level 3 owns or leases more than 200 colocation facilities in North America, more than 100 colocation facilities in Europe, and 12 colocation facilities in Latin America. In addition, it operates 18 data center facilities in Latin America, Europe and North America. Additionally, for some of its enterprise customers, it has data center space equipped with Level 3 servers that are managed as a platform for enterprise customers to use for their own data management needs. In such data center space, Level 3 provides certain enterprise customers various services, such as capacity management and security.

Voice services are a substantial part of its business. Level 3’s voice services also include its suite of audio, Web and video collaboration services. It also provides services that handle the termination of bulk minutes on behalf of other carriers. These services include wholesale voice services. Level 3 provides specialized communications services for companies that distribute video or other digitized content across the Internet. Through acquisitions and through its own research and development, Level 3 has approximately 900 patents and patent applications in the United States and worldwide, as of December 31, 2012. Its patent portfolio includes patents covering technologies ranging from data and voice services to content distribution to transmission and networking equipment.

Core Network Services

Transport services include wavelengths, private lines, transoceanic services, and dark fiber, as well as related professional services. These services are available across its metropolitan and intercity fiber network. Wavelength services provide unprotected point-to-point connections of a fixed amount of bandwidth with Ethernet or Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) interfaces. Wavelength services are available at a range of speeds from 1 gigabits per second to 100 gigabits per second. Private line services are also point-to-point connections of bandwidth but include SONET or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) protection to provide resiliency to fiber or equipment outages. Private line services are available in a range of speeds with electrical, optical and Ethernet interfaces. It also provides transport services within its transatlantic cable system connecting North America, Europe and Latin America, as well as via leased bulk capacity on other transoceanic systems. International backhaul transport services, interconnecting cable landing stations and its terrestrial North American, European and Latin American networks, are also available.

Level 3’s dark fiber service provides fiber, colocation space in its Gateway and in its network facilities, power and physical operations and maintenance of the fiber and associated infrastructure. Professional services related to its transport and data services include network architectural design, engineering, installation and turn-up, ongoing network monitoring and management services, and field technical services. Colocation and Data Center services include data center facilities and services, including cloud, hosting, and application management solutions. The Company’s data center facilities offer data center space where customers can locate servers, content storage devices and communications network equipment in a secure technical operating environment. In addition, it offers high-speed, connectivity to its network and to other networks, including metro and intercity networks, the traditional public switched telephone network and the Internet. The Company’s data center services range from single tenant blade hosting and cloud services to more complex managed solutions, including disaster recovery, applications management, business continuity, and security services to manage mission critical applications.

Data services include high speed Internet Protocol (IP) service, dedicated Internet access (DIA) service, virtual private network (VPN) service, content delivery network (CDN) service, media delivery service, Vyvx broadcast service, Converged Business Network service and Security Services. Level 3's DIA service offers a range of access methods and speeds. The service is available stand-alone or in conjunction with managed services offerings, such as Managed Router where it deploys and manages a router that is on the customer premise or its network-based Distributed Denial of Service (DDS), Mitigation, which protects its business customers from Internet based DDS attacks. Level 3 offers customers the ability to create private point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, and full-mesh networks based on IP VPN, Virtual Private LAN service (VPLS), Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL), or multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) VPN technologies.

The Company’s content delivery network services combine its IP network, Gateway facilities and patented technology that directs a requestor or end user to the best location or server cluster in its network to retrieve the requested content based on location and network conditions. The Company’s caching and download services provide http delivery of large files, such as video, software, security patches, audio and graphics to mass audiences. Its streaming service can be used to deliver high performance streams, either live or on-demand, to end users using proprietary protocols. Level 3 also offers storage solutions enabling customers to upload and store content to its network as part of a delivery platform. Level 3’s media delivery service extends support for online distribution models and operation by providing customers with means to ingest and digitize live video content and to manage the organization and presentation of both live and on demand video to end users via a content management system. In addition, support for content monetization via paid and advertising supported models is provided.

Level 3 offers various services to provide audio and video feeds over fiber or satellite for broadcast and production customers. Vyvx Services were used to support live video transmissions for the game and related content, and the tenth year supported high definition (HD) video transmission using IP/MPLS technology. It also offers encoding services to translate the broadcast video feeds it carries for its customers into formats for Internet distribution. Level 3’s Converged Business Network service enables customers to connect their offices or other locations with a variety of telecommunications services. The Converged Business Network service combines a customer's services over a single access circuit per customer location. Level 3’s Security Services include Secure Access, which provides secure and encrypted connectivity for mobile users or remote offices; Cloud and Premises based Managed Firewall and Unified Threat Management Services, including Intrusion Prevention and Detection service and Web Content filtering; network-based Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Mitigation, which protects against Internet-based DDoS attacks, and Security Consulting services for Governance, Risk Management and Compliance.

Level 3 offers a range of local and enterprise voice services, including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services and traditional circuit-switch based services. Its local and enterprise voice services include VoIP enhanced local service, SIP Trunking, local inbound service, Primary Rate Interface (PRI) service, long distance service, toll free service and a suite of audio, Web and video collaboration services. Level 3’s VoIP enhanced local service is a VoIP service that enables broadband cable operators, Interexchange Carriers (IXCs), VoIP, and other companies operating their own switching infrastructure to launch IP-based local and long-distance voice services via any broadband connection. The service is also used by enterprises that self-provide their own local voice features and call routing within premises-based IP Private Branch eXchange (PBX) equipment.

SIP Trunking is a VoIP-based local phone service offered to medium and large enterprises as a replacement for traditional fully featured enterprise Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) voice services. SIP Trunking allows customers with an IP PBX to manage calls to and from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) without having to purchase traditional access lines dedicated to voice. SIP Trunking includes basic local phone service components, such as local phone numbers, 911, operator assistance, directory listings, local and long distance calling. In addition, customers select from a full set of feature packages that provide core call control features, such as call forwarding, call waiting and call transfer, as well as advanced features, such as unified messaging and one-number identity.

The Company’s local inbound service terminates traditional telephone network originated calls to IP termination points. Customers, such as call centers, conferencing providers, voice over IP service providers and enterprises, can obtain telephone numbers from the Company or port-in local telephone numbers that the customer already controls. These local calls are then converted to IP and transported over its backbone to a customer's IP voice application at a customer-selected IP voice end point. Level 3 offer traditional enterprise TDM local phone services that can be configured in multiple ways. PRI services come with telephone numbers, operator services, directory assistance and directory listing, 911, as well as routing features, such as inbound redirect and remote call forwarding. Customers are able to utilize its PRI services to access long distance and toll free calling as well. Level 3’s long distance service portfolio consists of local and long distance transport and termination services. Medium and large enterprises purchase its long distance services for their corporate calling or outbound contact center needs. All Level 3 long distance services are offered at the customer's option over circuit switch or softswitch technologies.

Level 3’s toll free service terminates toll free calls that are originated on the traditional telephone network. These toll free calls are carried over either a circuit switch or softswitch network and delivered to customers in IP or traditional TDM format. Within this portfolio are Advanced Toll Free services that provide contact center customers the ability to define and control call handling and advanced routing between the Level 3 network and multiple customer contact center locations. Customers may also combine advanced routing with network-based Intelligent Voice Response (IVR), services that drive call routing and handling based on the caller's interaction with the IVR. Level 3 offers a suite of audio, Web and video collaboration services. Ready-Access, its on-demand/reservation less audio conferencing service, provides toll free access in key business markets worldwide. It also provides operator-assisted, full-service conference calls where participants can access its service by dialing in on either a toll or a toll-free number, or by being dialed out to by an operator. Enhanced service options include conference playback, taping/transcription service, translation services and on-line participant lists.

Level 3’s Ready-Access Web Meeting is fully integrated with Ready-Access audio conferencing for on-demand collaboration, allowing customers to manage their calls on-line, change account options, share presentations with participants and record entire meetings, including visuals. eMeeting is a full-featured Web conferencing application that allows customers to collaborate and share documents, presentations, applications, data and feedback with polling and instant messaging features. Live Meeting service uses technology licensed from Microsoft to allow multiple attendees to participate in meetings using only their computer, a phone, and an Internet connection. It has integrated Ready-Access as an audio conferencing component into Live Meeting. Level 3’s videoconferencing service provides video over IP and ISDN platforms, using multi-point bridging to connect multiple sites. Enhanced options available with its videoconferencing services include scheduling, recording and hybrid meetings that combine its audio and video services.

Wholesale Voice Services

The Company’s Wholesale Voice Services include voice termination and toll free service. Level 3’s wholesale long distance offer include domestic and international voice termination services targeted to IXCs, wireless providers, local phone companies, cable companies, resellers and voice over IP providers. As with Enterprise Toll Free, Level 3's wholesale Toll Free service terminates toll free calls that are originated on the traditional telephone network. Customers for these services include call centers, conferencing providers, and voice over IP providers.

Other Communications Services

The Company’s Other Communications Services include managed modem (and related reciprocal compensation services) and SBC Contract Services. Its managed modem service is an outsourced, turn-key infrastructure solution used by ISPs for the management of dial up access to the public Internet.

Communications Network

The Company’s network is an advanced, international, facilities based communications network. It primarily provides services over its own facilities. As of December 31, 2012, its network encompasses: approximately 105,000 intercity route miles in North America, Europe and Latin America; metropolitan fiber networks in approximately 170 markets containing approximately 34,600 route miles; approximately eight million square feet of Gateway and transmission facilities in North America, Europe and Latin America; approximately 350 colocation and data center facilities globally; approximately 35,000 route miles of subsea optical fiber cable systems, and more than 55 countries in service worldwide. The Company’s intercity network covers approximately 70,000 route miles in North America, 26,000 route miles in Europe, and 9,000 route miles in Latin America, as of December 31, 2012.

Level 3’s local facilities include fiber optic metropolitan networks connecting its intercity network and Gateways to buildings housing communications intensive end users, enterprise customers and traffic aggregation points-including ILEC and CLEC central offices, long distance carrier points-of-presence or POPs, cable head-ends, wireless providers' facilities and Internet peering and transit facilities. As of December 31, 2012, it had approximately 26,000, 3,100 and 5,500 route miles of metropolitan fiber networks in North America, Europe and Latin America, respectively, and had operational, facilities based, local metropolitan networks in 119, 36 and 14 markets in North America, Europe and Latin America, respectively.

Level 3 operates approximately eight million square feet of space for its Gateway and transmission facilities. As of December 31, 2012, it had more than 200 colocation facilities in North America, more than 100 colocation facilities in Europe, and 14 colocation facilities in Latin America. The Company also operates 18 data center facilities in Latin America, Europe and North America that are designed to support hosting services together with its broadband services and advanced value added solutions. Most of these facilities offer a complete set of data center services ranging from housing and hosting, to more complex managed solutions, including disaster recovery, applications management, business continuity, and security services to manage mission critical applications.

Level 3 owns a number of subsea fiber-optic cable systems, including Atlantic Crossing -1 (AC-1), Atlantic Crossing-2 (AC-2), Mid-Atlantic Crossing (MAC), South American Crossing (SAC), Pan American Crossing (PAC) and an approximately 300 route mile system connecting the United Kingdom and Ireland. AC-1 and AC-2 link its European network to its North American intercity network and each of AC-1 and AC-2 consists of four fiber strand pairs. It also owns capacity in the TAT-14 transatlantic cable system. In addition, Level 3 purchased 700 Gigabits of transatlantic capacity from Apollo Submarine Cable System Ltd.

The Company competes with AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, XO, Tata, Cogent, BT, Orange, TeliaSonera, Telefonica, Telmex, tw telecom, Zayo, Cable & Wireless, Colt, Interoute, KPN, Belgacom, Equinix, CoreSite, Global Switch, InterXion, Telecity, Telehouse Europe, IBM, Deutsche Telekom, Akamai Technologies and Limelight Networks.