chello broadband n.v. Signs Letter of Intent to

Purchase Capacity on Flag Atlantic-1 -- The World's First Terabit/S Transoceanic Cable Amsterdam (PROTEXT) - chello broadband n.v. (chello), Europe's leading broadband internet service provider and an operating company of United Pan Europe Communications (UPC) (Nasdaq: UPCOY; AEX: UPC) today announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for capacity on the new FLAG Atlantic-1 (FA-1) transatlantic cable system. FA-1, a 50-50 joint venture between Global TeleSystems Group Inc. (GTS) (Nasdaq and Easdaq: GTSG) and FLAG Telecom, will operate at 1.28 terabit/s and offer customers direct connectivity between the heart of New York and the cities of London and Paris. The Letter of Intent is subject to required corporate approvals and execution of a Capacity Right of Use Agreement. The LOI outlines the commitment by chello to purchase the equivalent of eight 155 Mbps STM1s on the FA-1 cable system. The link from New York to London and Paris will enable chello to offer service on a terabit dual cable system with more than 16 times the capacity of existing transatlantic cables. Operational in the fourth quarter 2000, the additional capacity will connect directly into AORTA, chello's own broadband network backbone which also utilises the GTS Carrier Services Trans European Network (TEN). "AORTA already leads Europe as the most successful broadband IP network," said John Riordan chief executive officer of chello broadband n.v. and vice chairman of UPC. "Once concluded, this agreement will further enhance chello's ultra-fast network so we can continue providing our customers with the excellent performance they have come to expect. It will also strengthen our competitive position by further differentiating the services we offer in the field of broadband high-speed Internet access and data transmission. This will take chello into the global carrier league and enable chello to compete as a tier one carrier class network alongside companies such as MCI/Worldcom and AT&T" This announcement follows on from last week's release of chello's first quarter figures of 36,650 broadband internet customers giving it the largest broadband internet user base in Europe. "We are delighted to have signed this LOI with FLAG-Atlantic- 1," said Mark Schneider, chairman of chello broadband n.v. and chairman/CEO of UPC. "The provision of this transatlantic bandwidth, with more available as required, will benefit all divisions of UPC, including Priority Telecom, and will take UPC to the fore front of the converging global voice, data, and telecommunications services market." "chello has been a long-term customer of ours and we are particularly pleased that they continue to show their confidence in us", said Jan Loeber, president GTS Carrier Services. About chello broadband n.v. chello broadband is Europe's first and leading broadband Internet service provider. It has the largest reach in Europe and is committed to delivering next-generation, 24-hour accessible Internet services and broadband content to consumers via high- speed cable modems, with no phone bills -- ever! It provides a turnkey service to cable network operators based in Europe. The company is an operating company of United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC), with headquarters in Amsterdam and offices in Amsterdam, London, Paris, Vienna, Brussels and Oslo. By providing unparalleled communications services, chello broadband delivers m@ximum Internet through cable with minimal cost. chello(TM) is a registered trademark of chello broadband n.v. About United Pan-Europe Communications N.V. (UPC) Headquartered in Amsterdam, UPC (Nasdaq: UPCOY; AEX: UPC) is one of the most innovative broadband communications companies in Europe, owning and operating the largest private pan-European group of broadband communications networks. UPC provides cable television, telephony, Internet and programming services. It has well-established multi-service communication systems in 10 countries in Europe and Israel. As at Feb 28, 1999 UPC's networks passed approximately 4.8 million homes, they had 3.5 million subscribers of which approximately 500,000 take an expanded service, 92,600 telephony access lines and as at March 31, 1999, 36.650 broadband access Internet subscribers. UPC delivers voice, video and data services, which allow it to offer, stand alone and integrated service solutions to suit its individual customer's needs. UPC owns Priority Telecom(TM), its CLEC and integrated telephony company and chello broadband n.v., its high speed broadband Internet company. About FA-1 FLAG Atlantic-1 has been designed from the ground up as a City-to-City cable system and will offer direct connectivity between London, Paris and New York, with seamless connections to numerous other cities in the US, Europe and other countries in the Middle East and Asia Pacific. The cable will be a loop system, connecting the East Coast of the United States, with two nodes in midtown and downtown Manhattan, to two landings in Europe -- one in Brittany, France and the other in Cornwall, UK. The entire FLAG Atlantic-1 system is planned to consist of three self-healing, high capacity loops with twin terrestrial access points connecting to the TEN (The European Network, formerly Hermes Europe Railtel) as well as to the existing FLAG cable system, stretching over 27,000 km from the UK to Japan. FLAG Atlantic-1 will use laser-generated light to transmit digital information over four fibre pairs and is capable of carrying over one trillion bits of information per second. The cable will be highly resilient with no single point of failure. The cable will integrate seamlessly into GTS's and FLAG Telecom's existing systems, providing secure end-to-end circuits to almost all major world business centres. GTS Carrier Services GTS Carrier Services includes Trans Oceanic Services (TOS) which is responsible for the company's worldwide subsea operations including the FLAG Atlantic-1 joint venture; Internet Provider Services (IPS), which handles a variety of IP value added services; and Trans European Network (TEN, formerly Hermes Europe Railtel), which is responsible for the operation of the company's 12,200 kilometre European fibre optic network. Ross Sampson Julia Crawford vp communications senior account executive chello broadband n.v. Edelman PR tel: + 31-20-3552-717 tel: + 44-171-344-1342 email: ross@chello.com email: jcrawford@edeluk.com Henrietta Hirst Dave Scott director group corporate vp corporate communications communications GTS Carrier Services UPC N.V. tel: +32-2-658-5462 Tel: +44-171-518-7980 email: dave.scott@herten.com email: hhirst@upc.nl Michael J. Smith Jane Windsor vice president technology director of communications Edelman PR FLAG Telecom Limited Tel: + 1-202-326-1809 tel: +44-171-317-0811 email: michael_smith@dc.edelman.com email: jwindsor@flagtelecom.com or visit our websites on: www.chello.com www.flagatlantic.com www.chello.at www.chello.be www.fr.chello.com www.chello.nl www.chello.no ots Original Text Service: chello broadband n.v. Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Ross Sampson, vp communications of chello broadband n.v., +31-20-3552-717, or ross@chello.com; or Henrietta Hirst, director group corporate communications of UPC N.V., +44-171-518-7980, or hhirst@upc.nl; or Michael J. Smith, vice president technology of Edelman PR, 202-326-1809, or michael_smith@dc.edelman.com; or Julia Crawford, senior account executive of Edelman PR, +44-171-344-1342, or jcrawford@edeluk.com; or Dave Scott, vp corporate communications of GTS Carrier Services, +32-2-658-5462, or dave.scott@herten.com; or Jane Windsor, director of communications of FLAG Telecom Limited, +44-171-317-0811, or jwindsor@flagtelecom.com Web site: http://www.chello.com http://www.flagatlantic.com http://www.chello.at http://www.chello.be http://www.fr.chello.com http://www.chello.nl http://www.chello.no Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT