NTT’s Verio Unit to Trim U.S. Staff by 25%

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.’s Verio Inc. unit, which runs Internet sites for businesses, will trim its U.S. work force of more than 3,000 by 25% in a bid to pare costs and stem losses.

The Englewood, Colo.-based subsidiary of Japan’s NTT will consolidate some offices and data centers. Verio didn’t disclose the locations of the offices to be closed.

NTT paid $5.5 billion last year for Verio as part of a push to create a global Internet service for corporate clients. Verio had losses of $777 million on revenue of $328 million last year as demand for Web services waned.

NTT will take a $3.4-billion charge related to its Verio unit in its fiscal first half ending Sept. 30, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported, without citing sources.