LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 2002-- Cox Nevada Telcom, LLC, an affiliate of Cox Business Services, LLC/Hospitality Network, Inc. (CBSHN) has announced plans to provide fiber to develop a high-bandwidth wide area network for the Clark County School District (CCSD).

The wide area network, or WAN, will link students, educators, parents and the community via broadband and enable the CCSD to provide improved video, data and telephone services throughout the nation's 6th largest school district.

The CBSHN contract includes all schools and administrative facilities located within Clark County and the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Boulder City. A select number of CCSD schools in outlying communities are not included in the contract.

"Our partnership with CBSHN will be a tremendous asset to the Clark County School District and will result in significant savings for the district over the life of the contract," said Superintendent Carlos A. Garcia. "We are looking forward to making all the schools and facilities within the district technologically efficient."

According to Dr. Philip Brody, chief technology officer for the Clark County School District, CBSHN will provide the fiber connectivity for the wide area network, or WAN, throughout the district, which is capable of hosting several services, including high-speed Internet access, video-on-demand and telephones in every classroom.

"The utilization of CBSHN to provide the fiber system will help us build a technology platform throughout the district that will enable greater unity and efficiency," said Brody. "For example, we will be able to install a phone with voice mail in every classroom by utilizing the WAN instead of separate phone lines, which was cost prohibitive. Teachers will enjoy greater convenience in leaving recorded messages with homework assignments, not to mention the security advantage of having a phone in your classroom."

According to Brody, future abilities of the WAN include the utilization of video-on-demand to allow educators to order curriculum support video materials for immediate use, rather then having to submit several steps of paperwork under the current process.

"Teachers and students will also have high-speed Internet access for educational opportunities and be able to more efficiently utilize e-mail to create a channel of communications between students, teachers and parents," said Brody.

The Clark County School District is the nation's 6th largest with approximately 245,000 students and 266 schools. Already, seven schools within the district have the WAN installed as part of a pilot technology program between CBSHN and the district. Those schools include Beckley Elementary School, Hewetson Elementary School, Paradise Elementary School, Ullom Elementary School, Cortney Middle School, Knudson Middle School and Chaparral High School.

Mary Alice Nielson, vice president and general manager of Cox Business Services/Hospitality Network said the announcement is a major step for the company, whose products primarily service the gaming and hospitality industry, and many small, medium, and large-size business in Southern Nevada.

"We are excited to provide the much-needed fiber for the school district that will ultimately provide communications and technology solutions to boost efficiency and educational opportunities for approximately 270,000 teachers, students, administrators and staff in the district," said Nielson.

In July 2001, Hospitality Network, Inc. joined with the newly launched Cox Business Services, LLC affiliate of Cox Communications, Inc., to market these services in Southern Nevada. The company is headquartered in Henderson, Nev. Mary Alice Nielson is vice president and general manager of the company, which is a subsidiary of Cox Communications Las Vegas, Inc.

CBSHN has established itself as the leading provider of interactive television to the gaming and hospitality industry with more than 110,000 hotel rooms nationwide. In December 2001, the company announced a partnership with Park Place Entertainment to provide services at 18 Park Place Entertainment hotel/casinos properties in four states.

Hospitality Network provides interactive services, communication and entertainment to more than 110,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas, Reno and Laughlin, Nev., Atlantic City, N.J., Biloxi/Gulfport, Miss., and the Bahamas, among others. The company was founded in 1988.

Currently, Hospitality Network's in-room services include video on-demand movies, free-to-guest programming channels, guest interactive services such as folio review and check-in, internet access through the guest room television and high-speed Internet access for laptops and in-room appliances. The company is also the largest provider of electronic in-room entertainment for the hotel-casino industry.

Cox Business Services, LLC is an affiliate of Atlanta-based Cox Communications, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and the nation's fifth largest cable broadband communications company. A full-service, facilities-based provider of telecommunications solutions, Cox Business Services serves home offices; small, medium and large-sized businesses; school districts; and hospitality, government and military properties in cities across the nation. Cox offers high-speed Internet services; switched voice services and long-distance; carrier access services; and dedicated voice, data and video transport. More information about Cox can be accessed on the Internet at www.coxbusiness.com.

Cox is Committed to Education

Cox Communications is committed to improving the quality of life in the communities it serves and has long been viewed as the premiere leader and provider of educational technology. For more than 12 years, Cox has provided private and public schools in its service areas with complimentary cable television services via Cable in the Classroom. Today 3.5 million students in 5,600 schools receive this free programming from Cox. In 1997, Cox began providing a complimentary high-speed Internet connection and unique online events to schools via its Line to Learning program, which is based on Cox's belief in the value of a high-speed learning connection to the classroom. The award-winning Line to Learning program was created to provide complimentary cable modems and Internet access to schools in communities where the Cox network is fully upgraded. To date, Cox has installed high-speed Internet access in 750 schools in eighteen communities. Through its commercial affiliate, Cox Business Services, the company also partners with school districts, libraries and universities in its service areas to build high-bandwidth wide area networks that link students, educators, parents and the community via broadband.

--30--jah/at*