XO Communications Provides Broadband Services Using Upgraded Nationwide OC-192 IP Backbone Network
The XO IP Network Will Provide Customers With Maximum Speed and Reliability for Today's Critical Business and Internet Applications
RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 6, 2001-- XO Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:XOXO - news), one of the nation's leading providers of broadband communications services, today announced it is migrating services and customer traffic onto its upgraded OC-192 capacity Internet backbone network, making XO one of a only a handful of major telecommunications companies capable of delivering data end-to-end throughout the United States at speeds up to 10 Gigabits per second.
The upgraded OC-192 capacity inter-city network serves ``hub'' or IP core locations in New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Jose. Remaining XO markets will be connected to the XO IP core locations via dual OC-12c circuits.
The inter-city network upgrade is designed to provide XO customers with improved network redundancy, security and performance. The upgrade will also enable XO to offer customers services that take advantage of future IP technological evolutions including voice-over-IP, Unified Messaging and other prioritized Internet applications and services on the XO inter-city and metro networks.
The XO sales force of more than 1,200 sales professionals will begin selling services utilizing portions of the upgraded inter-city network immediately. All XO customers will be migrated to the powerful backbone network in the months ahead.
``Today's announcement is a 'golden spike' of sorts for the XO end-to-end network,'' said XO Chief Technology Officer Doug Carter. ``This key inter-city network upgrade, combined with our existing XO Tier One Internet Peering relationships and the achievement of our goal to provide metro network service in 63 markets at the close of last year, is a critical milestone for XO, representing the substantial completion of our network build out. The completion of these network components has placed XO among the elite telecommunications providers capable of delivering an end-to-end network of this size and power.''
``The completion of its national IP backbone is a significant step for XO,'' said Tim McElgunn, Senior Analyst and Program Manager of Stratecast Partners' Competitive Operator Strategies Practice. ``While the upgrade will clearly have immediate benefits in terms of network capacity and flexibility, at a strategic level, operational efficiencies will likely prove just as important over time. As XO's cost to serve existing and new customers declines and its ability to add new services improves, those benefits should translate directly into increased revenue and improved margins.''
XO has deployed and connected Juniper Networks Internet backbone M160 routers in ``hub'' or IP core network cities in New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Jose. The eight core network nodes and the corresponding OC-192 capacity wide area links will provide a diverse fiber path preventing the network from being compromised by a single point of failure.
The majority of the XO IP OC-192 network is commercially operational today, and customer traffic is currently traversing the inter-city network. All XO IP core locations will be operational by the end of this month.
XO is also deploying Juniper Networks M40 routers to efficiently direct and manage network traffic generated from XO metro fiber rings, supporting 63 U.S. markets, into the eight core network nodes for further distribution. The XO metro markets are expected be connected via dual OC-12c capacity circuits, providing one of the most robust and extensive metro uplink capabilities in the industry.
All XO metro markets will connect to the OC-192 backbone network by the end of this year.
The new XO IP network has the advantages of a ``clean-sheet'' design that utilizes the latest technology for optimizing optical networks and creating network designs that are highly scalable for future expansion. The network can carry 10 Gbps (Gigabits per second) of capacity throughout the entire backbone allowing it to deliver optimal performance.
The network is also expected to provide superior IP traffic protection and redundancy because of its diverse fiber routes, elimination of single IP points of failure within the network and independence of other third party network providers.
``XO now has the ability to provide advanced, end-to-end IP networking capabilities at performance, protection and redundancy levels that are among the best in our industry,'' continued Carter. ``By building and owning our own network we can be completely accountable for the performance of the network to our customers while at the same time reducing our own network operations expenses.''
About XO Communications
XO Communications is one of the world's leading providers of broadband communications services offering a complete set of communications services, including: local and long distance voice, Internet access, Virtual Private Networking (VPN), Ethernet, Wavelength, Hosting and Integrated voice and data services.
XO has assembled an unrivaled set of facilities-based broadband IP and transport networks and Tier One Internet peering relationships in the United States. XO currently offers facilities-based broadband communications services in 63 markets throughout the United States.
The Company is also one of North America's largest holders of fixed broadband wireless spectrum, with licenses covering 95 percent of the population of the 30 largest U.S. cities.
The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are ``forward-looking statements'' (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These statements include those describing the expected future operations of XO and the potential benefits of the arrangements and services described in this release. Management wishes to caution the reader that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, those risks and uncertainties described from time to time in the reports filed by XO Communications with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 and in it's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2001.
XO, XO Not Just Talk and the XO design logo are trademarks of XO Communications, Inc. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. |
