OMAHA, Neb., --Able Telcom Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: ABTEE) today announced that its subsidiary, Adesta(SM) Communications, Inc. (formerly MFS Network Technologies), a leader in the development of fiber optic-based communications networks, has finalized an agreement with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) that will enable Adesta to install fiber optic infrastructure from the Chicago suburbs into downtown Chicago.

Adesta Communications has already completed construction of a 295-mile duct and dark fiber network within the rights-of-way of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (Authority) that complements the CTA route. The Authority's network currently provides access between the growing business corridors in Chicago's suburbs, as well as providing connectivity to other states.

"This mutually beneficial agreement affords Adesta a so-called 'final-mile' solution from the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority right-of-way into downtown Chicago and, at the same time, provides the CTA with a creative source of additional revenue and fiber capacity," said Bob Sommerfeld, Sr. Vice President, Project Development. Sommerfeld noted that use of the CTA's secure route enables Adesta to maintain the same high level of service dependability, diversity and safety it offers customers throughout its other networks. The agreement allows Adesta the ability to propose the installation of additional fiber and duct capacity on other CTA routes.

Installation of the fiber cable will not disrupt or inconvenience CTA riders, according to Jack Hartman, Vice President of Construction, Engineering and Facilities. "Installation work will be done during late night hours, and time is scheduled and coordinated weeks in advance so as not to interfere with the CTA's own maintenance activities," Hartman said. The work will consist of attaching the duct and fiber cable sheathed in protective covers to tunnel walls, using existing duct where available and burying new duct along the surface portions of the CTA system.

The first segment of the CTA network, connecting O'Hare (I-294) with downtown Chicago, is scheduled to be operational by late summer of 2000, providing seamless access in one of the busiest telecommunications corridors in the nation. Adesta has already developed similar resource sharing networks for the New York State Thruway Authority, Bay Area Rapid Transit Authority, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, the Regional Electronic Toll Consortium in New Jersey and Delaware and the Colorado Department of Transportation. Plans are in place to develop additional rights-of-way connecting cities across the country and shared use networks in major metropolitan areas.

Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Adesta Communications specializes in providing secure, geographically diverse fiber routes to carriers, Internet service providers (ISPs), corporations and government agencies. The company has deployed over 2 million fiber miles in 70 metropolitan areas.

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