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Exhibit 99
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[ITC/\DeltaCom logo]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Investor Contacts:
Douglas A. Shumate Mary A. Edwards
Senior Vice President Manager
Chief Financial Officer Investor Relations
706-385-8189 706-385-8016
[email protected] [email protected]
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Media Contact:
Monty Vest
Sr. Manager
Marketing Communications
256-382-3949
[email protected]
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ITC/\DELTACOM AND BELLSOUTH REACH IMPORTANT SETTLEMENT
Settlement Addresses Reciprocal Compensation Rates
West Point, GA (October 2, 2000) - After many months of negotiations,
rulings from state authorities, and an improving relationship with BellSouth,
ITC/\DeltaCom, Inc. (NASDAQ/NMS: ITCD) announced today that it has reached a
settlement with BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) of ITC/\DeltaCom's long-standing dispute
over BellSouth's payment of reciprocal compensation for local calls placed by
customers of BellSouth and terminated to customers of ITC/\DeltaCom, including
calls terminated to ITC/\DeltaCom's Internet service provider customers. In
previous state rulings, the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, Georgia Public
Service Commission, Alabama Public Service Commission, and North Carolina
Utilities Commission each ruled in favor of ITC/\DeltaCom's requests for
reciprocal compensation and broader access to BellSouth's collocation services.
The Tennessee Regulatory Authority's ruling also established financial
consequences in the event BellSouth failed to perform its obligations in
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accordance with established performance measures. Based on these precedent-
setting rulings and the companies desire to reach mutually acceptable terms
concerning reciprocal compensation, this settlement was reached.
"This settlement will eliminate any uncertainty related to
ITC/\DeltaCom's receipt of reciprocal compensation from BellSouth, both for past
periods and through 2002, and allows investors to view reciprocal compensation
as a non-issue as it relates to ITC/\DeltaCom for these periods. In addition,
the settlement agreement injects a substantial amount of capital into our
business and provides an opportunity to recover the costs of terminating this
traffic," said Douglas A. Shumate, senior vice president and chief financial
officer.
The agreement settles all previous amounts due to ITC/\DeltaCom at
rates consistent or in excess of amounts previously recognized by ITC/\DeltaCom
as revenue, as well as establishes rates for all local traffic on
ITC/\DeltaCom's network for 2001 and 2002. The terms of the settlement agreement
are not subject to modification by changes in law or subsequent FCC, court, or
state commission decisions.
Under the settlement agreement, BellSouth agreed to make an initial
prepayment of certain amounts expected to be billed by ITC/\DeltaCom in 2001. In
addition, the agreement resolves compensation issues related to Multiple Tandem
Access and compensation for local interconnection trunks and facilities, which
will assist ITC/\DeltaCom in expediting the closure of current interconnection
agreement arbitrations related to those issues.
"We are very pleased to have reached this settlement agreement with
BellSouth. We continue to place great importance on the need to have a positive
relationship with one of our largest vendors," commented Andrew M. Walker, vice
chairman, chief executive officer, and president of ITC/\DeltaCom. "We have been
very pleased with the recent executive focus and commitments that BellSouth has
made in eliminating these remaining operating issues. The elimination of this
very contentious regulatory dispute will allow us to focus on the continued
improvement of the operating nature of our relationship with BellSouth," Walker
added.
ITC/\DeltaCom's Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, contains additional information about ITC/\DeltaCom's
settlement with BellSouth.
About ITC/\DeltaCom
ITC/\DeltaCom, headquartered in West Point, Georgia, provides integrated
telecommunications services to mid-sized and major businesses in the southern
United States, and is a leading regional provider of broadband transport
services to other communications companies. ITC/\DeltaCom operates 35 branch
locations in nine states, and its 10-state, approximately 8,530 mile fiber optic
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network reaches over 115 points of presence. For additional information about
ITC/\DeltaCom or e/\deltacom, visit the companies' web sites at
www.itcdeltacom.com and www.edeltacom.com. ITC/\DeltaCom has interconnection
agreements with BellSouth, GTE, Sprint and SBC Communications for resale and
access to unbundled network elements, and is a certified Competitive Local
Exchange Carrier (CLEC) in all nine BellSouth states, Arkansas and Texas.
* * * * *
Statements contained in this news release regarding expected financial results,
network deployment, product design and implementation, ITC/\DeltaCom's business
strategy and other planned events and expectations are forward-looking
statements that involve risk and uncertainties. Actual future results or events
may differ materially from these statements. Readers are referred to the
documents filed by ITC/\DeltaCom with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including ITC/\DeltaCom's annual report on Form 10-K filed on March 30, 2000,
for a discussion of important risks that could cause actual results to differ
from those contained or implied in the forward-looking statements. These risks,
which are discussed in ITC/\DeltaCom's filings under the heading "Risk Factors,"
include dependence on new product development, rapid technological and market
change, and risks related to future growth and rapid expansion. Other important
risks factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those
contained in or implied by the forward-looking statements include, without
limitation, delays or difficulties in deployment and implementation of products,
inability to meet product installation schedules, general economic and business
conditions, failure to maintain underlying service/vendor arrangements,
competition, adverse changes in the regulatory or legislative environment, and
various other factors beyond ITC/\DeltaCom's control. ITC/\DeltaCom undertakes
no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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