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XO Communications: XO Communications Wins Wholesale Service Innovation Award

^{Published on 2009-06-17 08:12:06, Last Modified on 2009-06-17 08:13:39 - Market Wire}
 

HERNDON, VA and LINTHICUM, MD--(Marketwire - June 17, 2009) - XO Communications (OTCBB: [ XOHO ]) graciously accepted an award from Global Telecoms Business yesterday evening for its Ethernet Hub Service. The "Wholesale Service Innovation" award for "Ethernet Services Innovation" was presented to XO and its Carrier Ethernet switch vendor, Ciena (NASDAQ: [ CIEN ]), during an awards ceremony held in London. In joining forces with Ciena, XO became the first U.S.-based service provider to offer a Carrier-grade point-to-multipoint Ethernet service with significant national coverage, including both on-net and off-net locations.

"As part of our commitment to innovation, we're continually evaluating the marketplace to determine what solutions are needed to help carriers meet their business and communications goals," said XO Carrier Services President Ernie Ortega. "If we uncover an area of service requiring attention and don't have the product to fill the void, we create it. We're grateful that Global Telecoms Business has chosen to honor such ingenuity and make carriers aware of our unique solutions."

XO's Ethernet Hub Service is quickly on its way to becoming a flagship product for the company. Over 60 Gbps of hub bandwidth have been deployed for customers, and sales are on the rise from month to month. The service offers complete transparency via VLAN stacking, real-time traffic with 100 percent frame delivery guarantees, and connection to nearly four million businesses across the U.S. via its Ethernet footprint -- including XO's industry-leading Ethernet over Copper delivery option -- making it the only service of its kind.

To date, demand for Ethernet Hub Service has driven XO to order 300 of Ciena's LE-311v switches, which provide the External Network-to-Network Interface (ENNI) function of the hub service. This includes identifying, separating and tagging different traffic types, aggregating the traffic for hand-off to XO's core network and switching the traffic across the network with the appropriate security and rate-limits in a point-to-multipoint architecture. XO also uses the 311v as a Network Edge device to deliver individual 10/100 Mbps Ethernet circuits to end users.

"With demand for Carrier Ethernet services rapidly increasing, carriers like XO need to find or create solutions that can be implemented quickly and easily while offering a unique, competitive advantage," said Mike Aquino, senior vice president of global field operations at Ciena. "Ciena's dedication to innovation gives way to Carrier Ethernet service delivery platforms that combine the efficiencies of Ethernet with the high service levels offered by traditional technologies. We are proud that our hard work has resulted in such acclaim."

The Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards are in their third year and are designed to honor innovative projects involving telecoms operators and service providers around the world, in association with their vendors and suppliers. Chief executive officers, chief technology officers and other leaders from operators and vendors throughout the world attended this year's awards ceremony, which recognized winners across five key categories: fixed network infrastructure innovation; wireless network infrastructure innovation; wholesale service innovation; business service innovation and consumer service innovation.

XO Ethernet Hub Service Features

XO Communications has taken a leadership role in expanding the availability of Ethernet services for domestic and international carriers. In addition to the ENNI features provided by Ciena's CESD platforms, the Ethernet Hub Service offers dedicated access to XO's extensive Ethernet footprint through a single connection. By employing a number of network access platforms in 75 major metropolitan markets, the service goes beyond the traditional fiber network to expand customers' reach to millions of commercial buildings across the United States. XO's Ethernet Hub Service supports a variety of Ethernet bandwidth options, ranging from 5 Mbps to 10 Gbps and supports 802.1Q, VLAN stacking and jumbo frames -- all aimed at providing carriers the most cost-effective, accessible and scalable way to reach their customers with Ethernet services. For more information about XO Ethernet Hub Service, call 800.474.1763, +1 303.539.7738, or +1 972.578.6496.

About XO Communications

XO Communications, a subsidiary of XO Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: [ XOHO ]), is a leading nationwide provider of advanced communications services and solutions for businesses, enterprises, government, carriers and service providers. Its customers include more than half of the Fortune 500, in addition to leading cable companies, carriers, content providers and mobile network operators. Utilizing its unique combination of high-capacity nationwide and metro networks and broadband wireless capabilities, XO offers customers a broad range of managed voice, data and IP services with proven performance, scalability and value in more than 75 metropolitan markets across the United States. For more information, visit [ www.xo.com ].

About Ciena

Ciena specializes in the transition to service-driven networks. We provide flexible platforms, intelligent software and professional services to help our customers use their networks to fundamentally change the way they compete. With a global presence, Ciena leverages its heritage of practical innovation to deliver maximum performance and economic value in communications networks worldwide. We routinely post recent news, financial results and other important announcements and information about Ciena on our website at [ www.ciena.com ].

Note to Ciena Investors

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 4, 2009. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.