Cogent Lights 700th Building with High Speed Optical Internet Service

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 12, 2003 - Cogent Communications, a Tier One, optical ISP, today announced that it has connected the 700th Building to its network. The Cogent Powered Building located at 919 3rd Avenue is the 130th building lit in Manhattan, where the average size of a Cogent Powered building equals 678,869 square feet. Cogent Powered means tenants enjoy higher quality Internet connectivity at prices far below the market on a per megabit basis.

Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP, a law firm with offices in New York and London, is a tenant of 919 3rd Avenue. "Ample bandwidth and network reliability are absolute necessities not only for us, but for our clients as well," said Sam Blumenstyk, Manager of Technology Operations, Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP. "The fact that this is Cogent's 700th building served underscores the ISP's momentum in the market, which is not surprising, given the professionalism shown in the installation and configuration process that we experienced in getting our office connected."

Cogent serves 30 percent of the top 50 law firms in the US. "Many law firm customers have come to realize the importance of having high bandwidth, whether it is for internet browsing, electronic mail, legal research or online training" remarked Bruce Wagner, Cogent's VP of sales. "Several firms such as Schulte can now plan to add bandwidth intensive elements such as video conferencing, client extranet sites, and other creative ways to enhance their services. These are effective tools that can help provide prospects with a higher level of comfort when looking for top-notch representation."

Cogent's dynamic growth and acceptance among businesses started in November 2000 when Cogent first lit its network and began testing traffic. Today, Cogent is in over 30 markets and has almost 6,000 customers throughout the United States and Toronto. A major reason for Cogent's quick acceptance in the marketplace is its marquee offering of 100 Mbps for $1,000 per month to commercial end-users. At $10 per megabit, this price is the best value in the market. Cogent continues to add Cogent Powered Buildings to its network at a pace of 1.5 per day.

"Unlike the thousands of ISPs in existence today, Cogent's network does not touch or ride on top of legacy telco's voice-based networks. By not having to rely on telco networks, Cogent eliminates the high cost of renting network capacity and is able to provide a higher quality of service at a far lower price point," said Dave Schaeffer, CEO of Cogent Communications. "A Cogent Powered building is much more attractive to potential tenants and has even enabled owners in some cases to charge higher rental rates in Cogent Powered Buildings," he added.

About Cogent Communications

Cogent Communications (AMEX: COI) is a Tier 1, facilities based, all-optical ISP focused on delivering ultra-high speed Internet access and transport services to businesses in the multi-tenant marketplace and to service providers located in major metropolitan areas across the United States and Canada. Cogent's simple product set includes either 100 Mbps or 1,000 Mbps dedicated, non-oversubscribed bandwidth at $1,000 and $10,000 per month respectively. These connections are delivered over Cogent's 80 Gbps backbone, making Cogent's network the largest of its kind in the country.

The Cogent solution offers the elusive combination of higher quality at a lower price. Technology, combined with network ownership has made Cogent's ultra-high speed Internet access an affordable reality for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as a significant cost saver for the largest enterprises and service providers.

Cogent's network consists of a dedicated nationwide multiple OC-192 fiber backbone, multiple intra-city OC-48 fiber rings, and optically-interfaced high-speed routers. Cogent has been recognized as the first IP Optical Cisco Powered Network (CPN). In April 2002, Cogent acquired the majority of the U.S. operations of PSINet including their three data centers located in NY, LA and Herndon, VA. As a result of the acquisition, Cogent is now offering service in over 30 metropolitan markets with bandwidth ranging from T1 to 1,000 Mbps as well as colocation services in the data center locations.

Cogent Communications is headquartered at 1015 31st Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20007. For more information, visit www.cogentco.com. Cogent Communications can be reached at (202) 295-4200 or via email at Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo..

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Information in this release may involve expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to Cogent Communications Group, Inc. as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. The statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences. Some of the factors and risks associated with our business are discussed in Cogent's registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in its other reports filed from time to time with the SEC.

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