BROOMFIELD, Colo., March 10, 2008 — Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:LVLT) announced today that Kevin O'Hara is stepping down as the company's president and chief operating officer, effective immediately. The company also announced that Sunit Patel, the company's current chief financial officer, will continue in the role of CFO. The company has terminated its previously disclosed search for a new CFO.
"Kevin O'Hara has worked closely with me for more than 20 years and this was obviously a difficult decision for both of us," said Jim Crowe, chief executive officer of Level 3. "Kevin is one of the founders of our company and has made enormous contributions to its success. I want to personally thank him for his professionalism and commitment to our company over the many years we've been together. At this time, however, Kevin and I have agreed that a different perspective will be of benefit to our company."
Neil Hobbs, currently executive vice president, sales and network services, has been appointed to the newly created position of executive vice president, operations. Mr. Hobbs and Mr. Crowe will be assuming Mr. O'Hara's responsibilities going forward.
Mr. Crowe will assume the additional title of president.
"I have worked closely with Neil Hobbs for several years and particularly closely over the last few months as we have worked to address our service activation and service management challenges," said Mr. Crowe. "I have great confidence that Neil will continue to provide the leadership that has already shown significant positive results in the early part of this year.
"In October, we announced that we were beginning a search for a new CFO. At the same time, we began implementing internal organizational changes aimed at both retaining Sunit Patel and bolstering our financial operational capabilities. During the search process, it became clear that the company would be best served by Sunit remaining CFO. I am particularly pleased that our company will continue to benefit from Sunit's broadly recognized leadership and strategic financial thinking. He is a gifted, financial executive with a deep knowledge of and commitment to the company."
As part of the internal finance organization changes, the company appointed Neel Dev to the new position of senior vice president, finance with responsibility for financial planning, budgeting and analysis for operations and the company's customer facing market groups. Mr. Dev has years of experience in finance and operations, and in his new role will report to Mr. Patel.
"Over the last several months, we have said that our company's primary goals for 2008 are to increase sales and service installation rates and to achieve sustainable, positive free cash flow as soon as reasonably possible," said Mr. Crowe. "We have already made real progress toward achieving these important objectives. I expect that the organizational changes we are announcing today will further contribute to the improvements we have already realized."
About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT), an international communications company, operates one of the largest Internet backbones in the world, connecting 180 markets in 18 countries. The company serves a broad range of wholesale, enterprise and content customers with a comprehensive suite of services including: Internet Protocol (IP) services, broadband transport and infrastructure services, colocation services, voice and voice over IP services, and content delivery and media distribution services. These services provide the building blocks to enable Level 3’s customers to meet their growing demands for advanced communications solutions. The company’s Web address is www.Level3.com.
"Level 3 Communications,” "Level 3," the red 3D brackets and the Level 3 Communications logo are registered service marks of Level 3 Communications, LLC in the United States and/or other countries. Level 3 services are provided by wholly owned subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc. Any other service, product or company names recited herein may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statement
Some of the statements made in this press release are forward looking in nature. These statements are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs. These forward looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Level 3’s control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. The most important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not limited to the company’s ability to: successfully integrate acquisitions; increase the volume of traffic on the network; defend intellectual property and proprietary rights; develop new products and services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; successfully complete commercial testing of new technology and information systems to support new products and services; attract and retain qualified management and other personnel; and meet all of the terms and conditions of debt obligations. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Level 3’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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