XO Communications has recently extended the reach of its nationwide 19,000 mile network across the Twin Cities metropolitan area. By instituting added points of presence across the Minneapolis – St. Paul metro area, XO has more than doubled its addressable market – allowing XO to service hundreds to thousands of new companies as well as provide a more viable option for their local and long distance networking and communications needs.

Minnesota XO Communications general manager, Mark Feil has said that XO is “very excited” about the network expansion and the ability to serve more businesses. Feil went on to report that because of XO Communications’ winning combination of their broad network reach, numerous network access options, and extensive portfolio of services, “XO Communications is uniquely positioned as a leading competitive alternative for businesses’ communications and network needs.”

The extension tacks on an additional 190 route miles to the XO metropolitan network and increases XO Communications’ reach to include the eastern and northern suburbs of Shoreview, Blaine, Anoka, Fridley, Crystal and Maplewood. Moreover, in order to increase the availability of high-speed, scalable Ethernet services to businesses in the Twin Cities area, XO has deployed Ethernet-over-copper technology more broadly across its network.

The extension also comes on the heels of XO Communication’s announcement of a six year, multi-vendor agreement for providing managed network services to the United States Postal Service in February of this year. The services include: engineering, design, installation, MPLS IP-VPN and router management to over 1,400 United States Postal Service locations, and is expected to bring in $45 million in revenues.

XO Communication’s expansions are good news – especially during these difficult economic times. XO grew less than 1 percent last year, and CO Holdings Co. reported annual revenues that were basically flat in 2010. Ascribing their losses to a $20 million impairment charge related to its LMDS licenses, XO finished out 2010 with cash and cash equivalents of $69.6 million.

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Contact one of our professional account managers today to see what XO services and products can do for your business!

T1 Costs || T1 Speed

Obtaining a thorough understanding of a company’s business objectives and strategic initiatives is essential to developing a successful and effective IT plan. Network Innovations not only understands this, and assess your unique situation to determine the best method of phasing in new technologies and associated business practices to develop a strategic plan with “real world” answers to help leverage technology investment while smoothly transitioning your existing business and technology base into the future.

Network Innovations can coordinate a joint project team within any company.
Their skilled personnel meet with company executives, users, and technical staff to develop a solid understanding of your business strategies and information needs. The team project manager then takes the lead, coordinating the development of detailed project plans, including staffing levels, schedules, phases, tasks, sub-tasks, deliverables, milestones, and applicable standards.

Additionally, Network Innovations can conduct site surveys and performance tests to measure the health of existing computing systems and communication networks. The information collected from these meetings and assessments will be used to:

• Facilitate the development of designs that are in unison with the company’s short and long term strategic objectives.
• Define specific functional and performance requirements and constraints for each proposed system and supporting network.
• Baseline existing voice, video, data, process control systems, and networking environments.

Network Innovations can provide implementation services for a company’s entire corporate enterprise network. They understand that a company’s IT infrastructure is its lifeblood and therefore, must be fully functional at all times. Their implementation services team ensures that the project is completed to specifications and on schedule, with special attention to quality and critical interoperability requirements. Furthermore, to reduce installation delays due to “dead on arrival” equipment, Network Innovations pre-tests network electronics prior to installation and provides configuration services.

10 Steps to Follow:

1. Determine your budget. The faster your internet speeds, the higher the cost. Those on a tight budget have the more economical options of dial up or even a light version of DSL. Also, phone companies often give discounts for bundled internet and phone services.
2. Look for ISPs with good ratings in your specific area. A number of ISPs may have great ratings in one area of the country but fail miserably in yours. A good idea is to talk with your neighbors or local businesses to find out how they feel about their ISP.
3. Once you’ve begun narrowing your list down to the ISPs within your budget and with positive reviews in your area, check to see which of those offer special deals on bundled services. Most cable and phone companies offer bundled deals when you purchase phone, TV, and Internet services together, and give incentives for signing up for specific times, or contract lengths. But, as always, buyer beware – typically once that year is up you’ll find yourself paying regular price, which can be almost double.
4. Next, take a look at customer support. Is it offered 24/7; how are they rated? Remember that a computer isn’t limited to breaking down from 9am to 5pm, and even the best and most expensive connections can experience technical issues or downtime. Know whether you will receive live support and/or email, and if they charge a fee.
5. Decide the speed you need. Most ISPs offer plans with prices based on download speeds. Slower DSL (also known as DSL light) or cable speeds are the most cost-efficient for those only wanting to browse the web and utilize email. That being said, if you’re looking to play online games, transmit data or stream movies and TV, you’ll definitely want a faster Internet.
6. Subsequently, see if they offer a free email account. Most ISPs offer at least one free email address. Others may provide more or charge a small fee for additional email addresses.
7. Then, see which ISPs provide anti-virus email protection. Many viruses sneak onto a computer via email, and having it scanned before reaching your inbox offers an added level of security.
8. Don’t automatically omit dial-up. With all the new advances in Internet services, dial-up has been given a bad reputation for quite some time. The truth is, there are still many parts of the country where dial-up is the only option, particularly rural areas. Aside from dial-up, satellite is a good – but expensive – alternative.
9. Avoid usage caps. Occasionally ISPs will limit the amount of time you can use the Internet. Although not all ISPs have this, make sure to read each policy carefully to avoid any inconveniences.
10. Look for a company that has an online bill payment option. Most large Internet providers do, while smaller providers, especially dial-up services, do not. Paying online is quick, saves paper, and just makes life a lot simpler.

• unified communications
• data networking
• integrated local, long distance, and Internet services of XO Anywhere, using a secure private network that has Class of Service (CoS) capabilities at 1.5 or 3Mbps.

With their bandwidth-plus-calling-plan pricing, XO IP Flex with VPN is the most economical, customizable solution available to fit the needs of your business. You can achieve better utilization of your bandwidth, run VoIP and data applications over the same circuit, and choose the port speed and calling plan specifications right for you. Using XO IP Flex with VPN also provides faster application deployments, lower network operating costs and more bandwidth for your money than traditional WAN services.

An overview of the benefits of IP Flex with VPN

• XO’s private MPLS-enabled IP backbone ensures secure communications and delivery for multi-site networks, protecting your important and critical flow of communications.
• Data segregated from the public Internet and routing intelligence that is built into the XO network itself, rather than residing in on-site customer equipment.
• Application priority using four Classes of Service.
• Options for full management and Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) allow for customization of management levels to suit your business’ specific requirements.
• CPE configuration, deployment, and management at each of your network sites are taken care of by XO, reducing your worries and headaches.
• 1.5 and 3Mbps options for bandwidth, and 10 to 100 Mbps Ethernet options allow for a broad range of speeds and flexible selection. Choose which is suited for your needs, and XO will take care of it.
• Any-to-any, fully-meshed topology
• Rapid deployment of critical business applications
• Optional XO Anywhere feature allows mobile employees to work anywhere, anytime
• All application traffic is run on one network platform, with better utilization of existing bandwidth, and the same circuits running VoIP and data applications.
• Bandwidth-plus-calling-plan pricing
• Cost Effective, making sure you get the most value for your money