Released on = February 1, 2007, 1:35 pm

Press Release Author = Michael Murphy

Industry = Telecommunications

Press Release Summary = Patient care isn't the only thing "hi-tech" at New England
Baptist Hospital. Nationally recognized as a leader in orthopedic care for years,
New England Baptist now has a cutting edge communications network to go along with
industry-leading medical care.

Press Release Body = With the help of Boston-based NEF, Inc., a telecommunications
consulting company specializing in custom networks, New England Baptist is moving
forward with its care and operations faster than ever.

New England Baptist, like many advanced health care organizations, is facing
challenges on a variety of fronts. Patients have higher expectations for care and
procedural efficiency; physicians need better, faster systems to maximize their time
and specialties; finally, disaster recovery initiatives and HIPAA compliance require
off-site back-up of voluminous and highly sensitive information.

How could New England Baptist address these three distinct issues quickly and cost
effectively? The solution was dark fiber. By tapping into Boston's wealth of unused
optical fiber, known as dark fiber, the hospital now has a fail-proof connection to
sensitive information and exponentially higher bandwidth for health care and records
applications than ever before.

"Dark fiber not only gives New England Baptist Hospital a logistical solution to
their current communications needs, but it gives them control over their network and
the scalability to grow," says Steve McCarthy of NEF. "Most importantly, the cost
savings of implementing a network using dark fiber is substantial."

New England Baptist worked with NEF to design a secure, custom dark fiber network
enabling all facilities to connect to an off-site data center, offloading all
mission critical applications and creating much-needed redundancy in information
storage. Dark fiber also enables the hospital to continue to advance and implement
technical solutions without having to secure more bandwidth to support new
capabilities.

Ultimately, it's the patients and physicians who benefit from the cutting edge use
of dark fiber at New England Baptist. The speed of the network translates into time
saved by physicians and staff which enables better care for patients. The hospital's
new bandwidth capabilities also create efficiencies in the admissions and discharge
procedures. Patients who come from all over the country can get back on their feet
with appropriate care instructions and referrals through an innovative web portal
supported by the new dark fiber network.

"As a Physician's case load increases, so do the demands to take care of the
patient as efficiently as possible. Caregivers do not have even a minute to wait
for any computer latency," says Marty Botticelli, Chief Information Officer of New
England Baptist. "The physicians have more time to care for patients, and the
patients are the real winners. Now they don't have to wait for the computers that
provide care-critical information to the physicians and nurses striving to care for
them through a slow, potentially unreliable computer connection."

Another benefit of dark fiber for NEBH? No network downtime. Botticelli offers, "The
reliability of the network has been outstanding and truly a necessity for our
mission critical operations and disaster recovery. Our connectivity is the pride of
the organization, and NEF was truly a partner, not just a broker, of those
services."

About New England Baptist Hospital
NEBH offers nationally recognized expertise in orthopedic surgery and performs more
complex orthopedic procedures than any other hospital in Massachusetts. The site of
one of the first artificial hip replacements in the country, NEBH continues to lead
the way in new methods to diagnose and treat all forms of musculoskeletal disorders
and disease.

NEBH has been recognized by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) as
one of the top 10 hospitals nationally for knee and hip orthopedics. NEBH was also
selected by U.S. News & World Report as a top orthopedic hospital.

The hospital is a teaching affiliate of Tufts University School of Medicine and the
University of Massachusetts Medical School, and conducts teaching programs in
collaboration with the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard School of
Medicine.

About NEF
NEF is a telecommunications consulting organization that specializes in creating and
designing communications networks, such as the one designed for New England Baptist.
With over 25 years in the telecom industry, NEF identifies and capitalizes on the
incredible amount of fiber optic network assets that remain unused or under-utilized
after the telecommunications boom of the 1990\'s. And with no specific carrier
allegiance, NEF works in the best interests of its clients to maximize
communications return on investment. For more information about NEF or about dark
fiber, call NEF at 877-DK-FIBER or email info@nefiber.com.

###
This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. Factors that could cause or contribute to such risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business
conditions, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, and various
other factors beyond the Company's control.


Web Site = http://

Contact Details = Marketing Contact:
Joy Milkowski
NEF, Inc.
joy@nefiber.com
Tel (720) 939-5858

Business Development Contact:
Steve McCarthy
NEF, Inc.
smmcarthy@nefiber.com
Tel (508) 663-1676

Marketing Contact:
Janice Sullivan
New England Baptist Hospital
Jsulliv5@caregroup.harvard.edu
Tel (617) 754-5410

IT Contact:
Marty Botticelli
New England Baptist Hospital
mbottice@caregroup.harvard.edu
Tel (617) 754-6588