WOBURN, Mass., December 5, 2001 - Genuity Inc. (NASDAQ: GENU), the leading provider of Internet infrastructure services and eBusiness Network Platforms, today announced Cisco Systems, Inc. and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) as the first customers of Genuity's Black Rocket Voice, a new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service for enterprise businesses. A significant step forward in the convergence of voice and data services, Black Rocket Voice is the latest addition to Genuity's Black Rocket eBusiness Network Platform, which combines Internet access, managed hosting and security, and IP transport over Genuity's Tier 1 backbone.

Black Rocket Voice integrates voice and data traffic onto a single, multi-protocol IP network infrastructure utilizing Genuity's Tier 1 IP backbone, delivering 50 times the capacity of a frame relay network to the customer site. The Black Rocket Voice service extends the Black Rocket platform to now include next-generation business communication services and enables business continuity for enterprises with a potential savings of up to 40 percent in total data and telecommunications costs.

"We're taking a giant leap forward with Black Rocket Voice by offering global leaders like Cisco and Verizon a converged enterprise communications service that increases workforce productivity, optimizes resources, and allows for business continuity at a time when it's needed more than ever," said James Freeze, Genuity's senior vice president, chief marketing and strategy officer. "From Genuity's experience, having our VoIP capabilities integrated into our business proved to be invaluable during the events of September 11. When the traditional telecom services were flooded with traffic, we were able to use our VoIP network to maintain contact with customers and employees in New York, Washington D.C. and around the world."

International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that revenues from IP telephony services will reach $23.4 billion in 2005. As enterprise VoIP grows, so will Genuity's network utilization. According to Frost & Sullivan, Genuity's Tier 1 IP backbone was the first to handle more than one billion minutes of VoIP use annually, and ranked Genuity as one of the leading VoIP providers in the world.

By seamlessly integrating voice and data communications services using Black Rocket Voice, enterprises such as Cisco and Verizon can preserve their existing telecommunications investments while realizing significant telecommunications cost savings. They also can reduce networking and administration costs, guarantee the up-time of their enterprise voice network, and better manage their internal and external communications needs as new, enhanced features, such as sophisticated call forwarding and presence management, become available in 2002.

"By deploying Black Rocket Voice to 41 domestic sites, Cisco expects to streamline internal communications, using the 35,000 IP phones we've currently deployed," said John Bruno, vice president, Information Technology, at Cisco. "Genuity's Black Rocket Voice service is regarded by Cisco as an important milestone in our long-range plans to migrate many of our voice and data services to outside service providers and the key to ensuring the continuity of our business communications. Genuity's network management expertise allows us to focus on our core business."

"We're excited about Genuity's voice over IP offering," said Ed McGuinness, senior vice president of marketing for Verizon's Enterprise Solutions Group. "We think the service has significant potential and are committed to trialing it between several of our West Coast sales branches where we expect to achieve material cost-savings by deploying a single, integrated voice and data solution."

Genuity has also been successful in deploying and using the Black Rocket Voice service for its own internal communications. The company has realized significant savings on telecommunications charges and consolidated resources in the areas where Black Rocket Voice has been deployed.

Black Rocket Voice is deployed primarily for intra-company "on-net" voice and data communications, and also for inter-company "off-net" communications anywhere in the world. And because Genuity's Black Rocket Voice service is carried on Genuity's managed OC-192 IP backbone, it offers a high Quality of Service (QoS) for voice calls.

About Genuity

Genuity is a leading Internet infrastructure services provider and the first company in the industry to offer an eBusiness Network Platform. Genuity combines its Tier 1 network with its full portfolio of managed Internet services, including dedicated, remote and broadband access, Web hosting and Internet security to develop a platform for creating scalable and repeatable managed eBusiness solutions. With annual revenues of more than $1 billion, Genuity (NASDAQ: GENU and NM: Genuity A-RegS 144) is a global company with offices and partnerships throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America. Additional information about Genuity can be found at www.genuity.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. For each of these statements, Genuity Inc. claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. If future events and actual performance differ materially from Genuity's assumptions, actual results could vary significantly from the performance projected in these forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties of Genuity's business, please refer to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which discusses in greater detail the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Further disclosures that the company makes on related subjects in its additional filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission should be consulted.

Copyright ) 2001 Genuity Inc. All Rights Reserved. Genuity, Black Rocket, and Black Rocket Voice are trademarks of Genuity Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.