US LEC Names CEO

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- US LEC Corp. (NASDAQ:CLEC) announced today that Tansukh V. Ganatra, US LEC Corp.'s Co- founder, past CEO and a member of the Board of Directors, has been named interim CEO to replace Aaron Cowell, who will leave US LEC effective December 4th, 2006. Mr. Cowell's departure was expected with an anticipated year-end US LEC/PAETEC merger closing. The merger is now expected to close in the first quarter of 2007. US LEC's Board of Directors has chosen Mr. Ganatra to assume his past role as CEO, on an interim basis, as the Company moves quickly toward completing the planned merger with PAETEC Corp. Since the merger announcement in August 2006, Mr. Ganatra has been actively involved in the design, evaluation, scheduled implementation and financial impact of the combined US LEC/PAETEC integration plans.

US LEC's Chairman and Co-founder, Richard T. Aab, stated, "We believe that given the new company's S-4 filing on November 13, 2006, Mr. Ganatra's knowledge of this process and operating expertise will enable the companies to begin implementing those plans in a highly efficient manner as US LEC moves to close the merger in the first quarter 2007."

US LEC Corp. (Nasdaq: CLEC)