Genband Targets Cable With Cedar Point Acquisition

Genband has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cedar Point Communications, a provider of IP switching solutions to the cable industry. The transaction is expected to close this month, subject to customary approvals and closing conditions.

Both Genband and Cedar Point are privately held, and they did not reveal the sale price.

Cedar Point solutions support residential and business services across a customer base that includes Comcast, Liberty, Charter and Kabel Deutschland. In addition to cable, Cedar Point serves CLECs, wireless operators and universities.

Mehmet Balos, Genband’s executive vice president/chief marketing officer, says Genband became interested in Cedar Point because of its desirable Tier 1 cable-operator accounts, adding, "The Cedar Point product is accepted in some key accounts.” Terms of the deal have Genband continuing to support Cedar Point’s Safari platform.

Noted Genband CEO Charlie Vogt in a statement, “Our combined vision of bringing advanced SIP and multimedia services to the cable market is one of the key drivers for this transaction, particularly as cable operators transition to IP. We look forward to supporting Cedar Point’s outstanding customer base with what will now be an even more comprehensive portfolio of solutions.”

Genband greatly expanded its own cable client base when it acquired the Carrier VoIP and Application Solutions Business from the bankrupt Nortel Networks in May 2010. Nortel’s customers included Rogers Communications, Shaw, Videotron and Suddenlink. When Genband acquired the Nortel VoIP assets, it predicted yearly revenues with that acquisition would exceed $700 million. This new purchase only will increase that number. "With this (Cedar Point) acquisition, we have about 40 percent of the cable VoIP market, both residential and business," says Balos.

The buyer employs approximately 2,200 full-time employees and 800 contract-based employees. Of some 125 Cedar Point employees, now located in Derry, N.H., a “significant portion” will transition to Genband, eventually moving to a nearby Genband facility located north of Boston.

-Linda Hardesty