October 3, 2001 -- XO Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:XOXO), a provider of broadband communications services, said that it remains intent on achieving EBITDA positive status in the first half of 2002 and will trim expenses by reducing its workforce by approximately 600 employees representing about eight percent of the total XO employee base. Additionally, XO reiterated that it would meet previously announced estimates for the company's third quarter 2001 revenue and EBITDA.

According to the company, the workforce reduction will occur primarily in staff support areas and will not have a significant impact on XO's sales or customer care organizations or on its front-line provisioning positions responsible for installing new customers or services on the XO network.

"We are determined to position XO to survive the current challenges in today's economy. We deeply regret taking this action given the impact on some of our employees, but we are convinced it can be accomplished without affecting our ability to win customers and meet their telecommunications needs, " said XO Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson. "Over the past eighteen months, XO has been transitioning from a network construction posture to an operational organization that is running an integrated national/local network. The reductions reflect this transition and are expected to put the company more in line with mature operational productivity metrics."

Several of the targeted areas impacted within XO include its new market construction team that no longer requires the same staffing levels resources due to the completion of substantial portions of the XOs network. Other reductions include portions of the company's IT organization which has recently completed the development of a number of business systems within XO. XO will provide financial details associated with the reduction and its financial operations for the third quarter on its quarterly results conference call in late October.