Mr. Bross: Williams has been in the communications business since 1985 when we innovated the installation of fiber-optic cable systems inside of decommissioned pipelines. That business grew to where Williams innovated the first frame-relay network. The organization actually gave birth to the long-distance reseller market and became essentially the fourth long-haul network in America. Around 1995, Williams sold part of the network to WorldCom for approximately $2.5 billion, but remained in the business through a broadcast and multi-media business called Vyvx' and retained a business called Williams Communications Solutions that sold and supported LAN, WAN and PBX systems into the enterprise space. Vyvx was the first to carry broadcast by fiber with the Super Bowl in 1990. There was a three-year non-compete agreement with WorldCom in the long-distance, voice and data businesses that began at the time of the sale. But in that three-year latent period, Williams grew both of those retained businesses, the Vyvx broadband multi-media business, and the Solutions business to a significant scale. The non-compete expired on January 5, 1998. Williams relaunched the network company in building out a nationwide 33,000-mile state-of-the-art fiber-optic infrastructure as a leading force in enabling the emerging carriers to address larger markets on a variable cost basis, than they would otherwise be able to do without Williams. So Williams Communications today is looking at the completion of these 33,000 physical route miles by the end of this year. Also the completion of two million square feet of collocation and data center square footage on the edge of that network and the servicing of 125 major markets throughout North America. Through September 1 of this year, we've been successful in signing up $3 billion in new contracts with the average contract duration of 6.7 years. So we have in place very durable contracts, tremendous success in garnering business from new and emerging carriers, as well as traditional carriers, and building out a world-class, second-to-none, next-generation, fiber-optic infrastructure. That's the history up to where we are as we speak.
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