Nextlink Brands Itself With An Xo

Nextlink Communications, which began providing telephone service with the launch of a Spokane network four years ago, has changed its name to XO Communications.

Also Monday, the company also introduced a new service, XOption, that combines local, long distance, Internet access and Web hosting in a single, flat-rate package.

Spokane General Manager Stuart Stiles said Nextlink had offered the services separately for some time, and will continue to sell them separately in the future.

Pulling them together will simplify consumer choice, he said. “People are really tired of trying to figure out their communications.”

Stiles said the unified package of services was made possible by XO’s extensive fiber-optic network and the acquisition of Concentric Network Corp. in June.

Concentric beefed up Nextlink’s capabilities in Internet services and data transmission, he said.

He said the announcement last month that XO will open a service center in Spokane was unrelated to Monday’s news.

That decision, he said, was based on the reputation and expertise of the company’s Spokane employees.

Stiles said XO plans a $20 million national advertising campaign to reintroduce itself, starting with a three-page spread in Monday’s The Wall Street Journal.

XO also told Wall Street analysts that it will exceed their earnings estimates for the third quarter. The company’s stock closed Monday at $33, up $5.12, but still down 50 percent from the high of $66.25 reached in March.

Today, the shares start trading on the NASDAQ exchange under a new symbol, XOXO.