July 31, 2008 08:00 ET

Utah Education Network Selects XO Communications to Provide High-Speed Network Services

Three-Year Agreement Enhances IT Services for Educators and Students Statewide

HERNDON, VA--(Marketwire - July 31, 2008) - XO Communications today announced that it has signed a three-year agreement to provide high-speed dedicated Internet access and metro private line services to the Utah Education Network, a not-for-profit consortium of higher and public education, libraries, state government and business with headquarters on the campus of the University of Utah. The agreement will enhance existing IT services for educators and students statewide.

The Utah Education Network will use the XO network services to provide a high-speed, statewide data network for K-12 schools, colleges and libraries. It will enable the Utah Education Network to provide free professional development workshops for educators; high school and college courses via live interactive video conferencing; and learning resources for everyone from pre-school children to senior citizens.

"Utah Education Network selected XO Communications based on a competitive bid process involving nine telecom and Internet service providers to increase Internet and WAN backbone capacity for our customers," said Michael Petersen, Executive Director for the Utah Education Network. "The Utah Education Network mission is to deliver educational services that improve the quality of student achievement and communication among educators, and XO Communications will enable that as we continue to expand on our resources."

Under the terms of the agreement, the Utah Education Network will purchase high-capacity network access services that include XO High-Speed Dedicated Internet Access at Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) speeds and XO Metro Private Line services at speeds of 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps). XO Metro Private Line service gives customers high-speed, dedicated point-to-point connections to securely transport applications and data between locations. XO High-Speed Dedicated Internet Access service combines fast, reliable Internet backbone access with high-bandwidth transport services across the XO nationwide IP/MPLS network to offer a high-performance Internet connectivity solution for customers.

"XO Communications is committed to providing the most advanced Ethernet services to support the Utah Education Network's statewide data network for students and educators," said Shawn Adamson, general manager of XO Communications' Salt Lake City office. "XO Ethernet Services will serve as the backbone for the Utah Education Network as it continues to facilitate innovative learning techniques."

For more information about XO Communications or XO services, please visit www.xo.com, or contact an XO sales representative by calling (866) 349-0134.

About the Utah Education Network

The Utah Education Network (UEN), founded in 1989, is a group of public education partners that includes the Utah System of Higher Education and its ten universities and colleges and Utah Electronic College; the Utah State Office of Education, local school districts and the Utah Electronic High School; and the state's Library system. The UEN facilitates interactive video conferencing, provides instructional support services, and operates a public television station (KUEN) on behalf of the Utah State Board of Regents. UEN services benefit more 750,000 students and educators throughout the state of Utah. UEN is based in Salt Lake City at the Eccles Broadcast Center on the University of Utah campus. For more information about the Utah Education Network, please visit www.uen.org.

About XO Communications

XO Communications, a subsidiary of XO Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: XOHO), is a leading provider of 21st century communications services for businesses and communications services providers, including Fortune 500 businesses, leading cable companies, carriers, content providers, and mobile operators. Utilizing its unique and powerful nationwide IP network and extensive local metro networks and broadband wireless facilities, XO offers customers a broad range of managed voice, data and IP services in 75 metropolitan markets across the United States. For more information, visit www.xo.com.