ATLANTA (October 11, 2010) – Southern Telecom, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), today announced that Open Range, a broadband wireless Internet services provider, has selected the company for colocation and interconnect services in Gadsden, AL.

“We chose Southern Telecom for our colocation needs to maximize the efficiency of our operations,” said Haitham Ali, regional project manager at Open Range. “By taking advantage of existing facilities from Southern Telecom, we save time and improve coverage.

By colocating with Southern Telecom, Open Range benefits from a climate-controlled environment with redundant power supplies and other back-up features. Plus, the company will be able to expand its network routing options in northeast Alabama and throughout the South. 

“Southern Telecom offers colocation services throughout the Southeast. We’re pleased to add Open Range to our Gadsden facility,” said Leif Ericson, business development manager with Southern Telecom.

Southern Telecom’s state-of-the-art colocation facility in Gadsden includes:

• Headquarters-level access security including alarms
• Reliable DC and AC power with backup generators and battery systems
• Pre-designated sizing or built-to-suit options including cage construction, customized rack installation and powering, cross connections, and interconnections to other tenants
• Environmental controls (heating, ventilation and AC)

About Southern Telecom

Southern Telecom is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Company that provides long-haul and metropolitan dark fiber connecting Atlanta with other smaller cities throughout the Southeast. The company also provides network elements such as rights of way, dark fiber, conduit, co-location and other related maintenance services. Southern Telecom is certified in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia and also at the federal level. For more information about Southern Telecom, please call (404) 506-5120 or visit www.southern-telecom.com.    

With 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices below the national average. Southern Company is consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Visit our Web site at www.southerncompany.com.

About Open Range

Open Range is a broadband wireless Internet access provider building a national 4G wireless network providing a better internet service to smaller American communities. Open Range plans to deliver voice and data services on a portable and eventually mobile basis to customers within its 4G wireless broadband footprint.

Founded in October 2004 and headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado, the Company has focused on a plan for a public/private partnership. The Company, jointly, closed a $267 million loan from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Utilities Program (RDUP) Rural Broadband Access Loan Program together with $100 million from JPMC’s One Equity Partners as its private equity investment on January 9, 2009 (prior to stimulus). Within the next three years, Open Range intends to serve over 500 communities, in 17 States, offering its services to approximately six million people. Open Range’s wireless broadband network solution will connect customers through licensed spectrum, enabling communities to improve safety, economic growth, education, and quality of life to remain competitive in the age of global communications.

For more information, visit www.openrange.us.