Exchange Server Port 119 opened?

I’m having a gamely disagreement with a friend. He states that MS Exchange 2000 requires NNTP port 119 to be opened so that Public Folders can be used. I however, am the admin of a 2000 Exchange server that uses Public Folders, yet 119 is not open.

Can anyone tell me why some of the MS Documentation states 119 needs to be available?

Thanks in advance!