AboveNet Launches New Managed Service that Offers Customers Secure, Affordable Off-Site Protection of Mission-Critical Data

Offering Extends Cost-Effective Data Protection to a Wide Variety of Customers Over a Private Optical Connection

NEW YORK, September 22, 2003—AboveNet, Inc., the leading provider of optical infrastructure services for unconstrained information exchange, today announced its latest bundled offering – AboveNet Metro Data Backup and Restore. AboveNet Metro Data Backup and Restore, provided in partnership with Arsenal Digital Solutions, the leading Storage Management Services (SMS) provider, combines in one cost-effective service, enterprise-class backup and restore, tier-one data center capabilities, full professional staffing, guaranteed SLA’s, and AboveNet’s 100% optical network. This bundled offering enables customers to backup data off-site for business continuity purposes without the hassle of adding additional staff, as well as negotiating separate bandwidth, backup and restore, and data center fees.

AboveNet Metro Data Backup and Restore uses a private, secure high-speed fiber optic network to connect a customer’s facility to an AboveNet data center. This connection enables the customer to send data securely over a direct network connection to an enterprise-class backup tape system that is housed in AboveNet’s data center and managed and monitored by Arsenal Digital Solutions. The data stored is available for immediate retrieval by a customer just as it would be if it were stored in its own facility, with the added advantage of having a fully managed tape backup system with no additional allocation of staffing or resources. The dedicated fiber connection allows a customer to scale the service according to its needs with virtually unlimited growth and managed capacity. In addition, since the data is off-site, AboveNet Metro Data Backup and Restore service fits in perfectly with an overall business continuity and disaster recovery plan.

“AboveNet is able to leverage our broad range of capabilities to create service that our customers want and need, like Metro Data Backup and Restore,” said John Gerdelman, president and chief executive officer, AboveNet, Inc. “This service provides customers with the extra layer of security and performance they need at a price that is affordable and with no additional internal resources. It’s another example of a great end-to-end solution from AboveNet.”

“This partnership with AboveNet is especially exciting for Arsenal because it allows us to bundle our data protection services with AboveNet’s highly secure, always available network,” said Frank Brick, chairman and CEO, Arsenal Digital Solutions. “With this unique offering, AboveNet and Arsenal are able to provide cost-effective data protection to a wide variety of customers.”

About AboveNet, Inc.
AboveNet, Inc. is the leading provider of optical infrastructure services for unconstrained information exchange within and between businesses. AboveNet builds and operates an office-to-office, 100% optical network that enables customers to create an efficient, cost-effective network that breaks economic performance barriers imposed in the last mile by complex legacy telecom infrastructure. With the most extensive optical metro network in the world, data centers throughout the US and Europe, top quality managed services and a high-performance IP network, AboveNet is able to offer the most flexible and complete information exchange solutions in the industry.

An aggressive and agile player in the industry, AboveNet provides security, performance, scalability and reliability in a wealth of interconnected services designed to facilitate information exchange. Our metropolitan fiber network provides the foundation for our offerings. This all optical metro network, combined with AboveNet’s portfolio of integrated solutions, enable enterprise customers to rise Above legacy networks to create truly customized networks that enable the real-time information exchange when and how it’s needed.

About Arsenal Digital Solutions
Arsenal Digital Solutions, the leading Storage Management Services (SMS) provider, is focused on helping large enterprises solve their data protection and business continuity needs. Leveraging its proven services architecture and storage expertise, Arsenal delivers a comprehensive and flexible suite of storage management services to more than 780 customers at leading Internet Data Centers (IDCs) across the world. Headquartered in Cary, N.C., and founded in August 1998, Arsenal is a privately held, venture-backed company. For more information on Arsenal, its solutions and services, visit the company web site at www.arsenaldigital.com.

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Arsenal Digital Solutions is a service mark of Arsenal Digital Solutions. All other trademarks and service marks mentioned herein are property of their respective owners.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause or contribute to such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, and various other factors beyond the Company's control. This also includes such factors as are described from time to time in the SEC reports filed by Metromedia Fiber Network including the most recently filed Forms S-3, 10-K and 10-Q.