Quanta Services Selected to Install 1,600 Mile Fiber Optic Network in Pennsylvania

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Jan 04, 2011, 06:00 ET

HOUSTON, Jan. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR) today announced that its Sunesys, LLC and Blair Park Services, LLC subsidiaries have been awarded a contract valued at approximately $118.5 million to design and install a statewide fiber optic network in Pennsylvania by a coalition of Pennsylvania colleges and universities, research and health care organizations and economic development entities called the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research (KINBER).

"KINBER is very happy to embark on this historic public-private partnership with telecommunications companies with the reputation and expertise of Sunesys and Blair Park, which are backed by the resources of Quanta Services," said KINBER executive director Jeff Reel. "We feel the breadth of the companies' capabilities and experience in Pennsylvania will help KINBER successfully deliver on the promise to advance education, healthcare, research and workforce training and development across the state through the Pennsylvania Research and Education Network (PennREN)."

Sunesys and Blair Park will build a fiber optic network for KINBER that will connect the state's institutions of higher learning to national research institutions and networks through a 10 gigabit ethernet service. KINBER, the non-profit corporation that will serve as coordinator for the construction and management of the network, received a grant for the project valued at $99.6 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"The vision shared by KINBER and Quanta is to provide a broadly accessible, reliable statewide education network," said John R. Colson, chairman and CEO of Quanta Services. "Our vast experience in construction, telecommunications technology and network deployment for education makes us uniquely capable of providing this solution for the region."

The local and regional workforce of Quanta's Sunesys and Blair Park subsidiaries, which are both based in Warrington, Penn., will be utilized to install the fiber optic network. Engineering, design and other pre-construction activities are currently underway with construction projected to be completed by January 2013. Under the terms of the contract, Quanta, through its Sunesys subsidiary, will provide approximately $24 million in matching funds over a two-year period for the infrastructure portion of the project. In return for the company's investment in the project, Sunesys will receive certain rights related to right-of-way access on the PennREN network.

PennREN represents the sixth largest broadband stimulus project in the country and will allow for the implementation and management of a robust broadband network that will span more than 1,600 miles through 39 counties, 22 of which are currently considered unserved or underserved based on their access to affordable broadband services. PennREN is expected to reach every region of the commonwealth and will have the potential to serve more than 5 million individuals in more than 2 million households and 200,000 businesses. Initially, it will include 13 primary network facilities and approximately 50 secondary locations.

About Quanta Services

Quanta Services is a leading specialized contracting services company, delivering infrastructure solutions for the electric power, natural gas and pipeline and telecommunication industries. The company's comprehensive services include designing, installing, repairing and maintaining network infrastructure nationwide. Additionally, Quanta licenses point-to-point fiber optic telecommunications infrastructure in select markets and offers related design, procurement, construction and maintenance services. With operations throughout North America, Quanta has the manpower, resources and expertise to complete projects that are local, regional, national or international in scope. www.quantaservices.com

About Sunesys, LLC and Blair Park Services, LLC

Sunesys is a dynamic, forward-thinking telecommunications services and dark fiber provider to a variety of top businesses, healthcare organizations and K-12 institutions. The company also partners with telecommunications carriers to lease end-to-end dark fiber networks. The company has major networks in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh metro areas. Sunesys also provides telecommunications services and dark fiber in New Jersey, California, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, Delaware and Ohio. Sunesys' corporate office is located in Warrington, Pennsylvania with additional Pennsylvania offices in West Mifflin and McMurray. www.sunesys.com

Blair Park Services provides high-quality turnkey services for most major telecommunications needs. Blair Park is equipped to handle small, medium, and large-scale telecommunications infrastructure projects including consultation, design and engineering, building and installation, project management, maintenance, and other support services. www.blairpark.com

About KINBER

KINBER (the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research) is an independent, non-profit corporation created to ensure the needs of all of the members and affiliates are addressed. Its mission is to serve as coordinator for the construction and management of a statewide fiber optic network accessible to a host of educational, research, health care and economic development partners seeking to aggregate services for their members and subscribers at affordable cost. KINBER's founding members include: the Association for Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania; Bucknell University; Carnegie Mellon University; Drexel University;; the Hospital & Health System Association of Pennsylvania; Lehigh University; the Mid-Atlantic Gigapop for Internet2 (MAGPI) at the University of Pennsylvania; the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges; the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education; Pennsylvania State University; the Three Rivers Optical Exchange (3ROX) at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center; the University of Pennsylvania; and the University of Pittsburgh. www.kinber.org

This press release (and any oral statements regarding the subject matter of this press release) contains forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the "safe harbor" from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the expected value and completion date of the contract with KINBER and the scope, services, term and results of the project awarded under the contract, as well as statements reflecting expectations, intentions, assumptions or beliefs about future events and other statements that do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Although Quanta's management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions and by a variety of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict or beyond our control, including, among others, successful performance and completion of the contract and the project awarded thereunder; failure to realize the anticipated value of the contract; our failure to obtain right-of-way access for the network to be installed, which could result in unexcused schedule delays or inability to complete the installation of the network; KINBER's failure to comply with terms of the grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), resulting in loss of funding and termination of the contract; the inability to complete the project as scheduled, resulting in penalties under the contract and/or KINBER's loss of funding from the NTIA; the NTIA's failure to fund the grant, including as a result of NTIA's failure to approve the matching fund arrangement or government budgetary issues; adverse changes in economic conditions and trends in relevant markets; future growth in the telecommunications industry, including in the area of broadband access; delays or changes in the scope of projects awarded under the contract; the inability of our customer to pay for services; cancellation and termination provisions present in the contract; and other factors affecting the business of the respective parties generally, including risks detailed in Quanta's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, Quanta's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for each quarter ended in fiscal year 2010 and any other documents of Quanta filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of this date. Quanta does not undertake and expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Quanta further expressly disclaims any written or oral statements made regarding the subject matter of this press release by any third party. For a discussion of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, investors are urged to refer to Quanta's documents filed with the SEC that are available through the company's web site at www.quantaservices.com or through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering and Analysis Retrieval System (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov.