October 26, 2001 -- Allied Riser Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: ARCC) announced that it has notified 19 employees that their employment will be terminated within the next 60 days in contemplation of ARC's pending merger with Cogent Communications Group, Inc. The employees, who comprise approximately 26% of ARC's workforce, will remain with the company through December 21, 2001 unless the merger is completed before that date.

In addition, the Nasdaq has notified ARC that delisting proceedings based on the company's non-compliance with the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq National Market rules will not be initiated at this time in light of the pending Cogent merger. The Nasdaq indicated that the delisting matter would be reinitiated if the merger has not been consummated by January 2, 2002.

ARC, headquartered in Dallas, is a provider of data communications services in commercial office buildings across the United States and in Canada. Cogent, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a privately held next generation optical ISP focused on delivering ultra-high speed Internet access and transport services to businesses in the multi-tenant marketplace and to service providers located in major metropolitan areas across the United States.