CLEC TelePacific Buys Covad Wireless
California CLEC TelePacific Communications, which serves the small and medium-sized business (SMB) segment in California and Nevada, is buying MegaPath Inc.’s NextWeb Inc. subsidiary dba Covad Wireless, a broadband, fixed-wireless carrier operating in TelePacifica area.
Under terms of the agreement, TelePacific adds some 3,500 profitable broadband fixed wireless business customers in the two western states plus some in suburban Chicago through an all-cash purchase of capital stock. No dollar amounts were disclosed.
The acquisition of Covad Wireless expands TelePacific’s SMB services into the fixed wireless market with a complementary network footprint. In a statement released earlier today, the buyer said, “Transaction benefits include increased availability of high bandwidth products to customers, the ability to provision customers more quickly, and own the ‘last mile,’ which reduces dependency on incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs). The transaction also strengthens TelePacific’s position as the Number One competitor to AT&T and Verizon for SMB customers in the California and Nevada markets.”
In return, Covad Wireless customers will be able to access to TelePacific’s business services, including converged voice and data networks in California and Nevada, and wide-area networking capabilities globally. “The addition of a broadband fixed wireless network allows TelePacific to offer quick-to-deploy wireless Internet, and reinforce its business continuity solutions with both wireless and wired network paths,” the statement continued.