CoreExpress makes cuts

ST. LOUIS - CoreExpress has cut its staff drastically in an effort to stay afloat while Williams Communications considers buying the start-up IP service provider.

Williams has been in negotiations to acquire CoreExpress but has not reached an agreement, a Williams spokeswoman says.

CoreExpress CEO Ian Brown could not be reached in person, but responded with a voice mail saying the company had made cutbacks to run more efficiently. He said the company had cut jobs before and was cutting them now because it was the responsible thing to do and was necessary for "any company that's going to survive." The company reduced its workforce from 350 to 250 in July.

The engineering and network operations center staff are the only departments untouched by the new cuts that went into effect two weeks ago, says a former employee. Current employees couldn't be reached for comment.

The company has built a 15,000-mile network based on optical fiber leased from Williams and Level 3 Communications and supported by gear from Cisco, Juniper Networks and Sycamore Networks.

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