RedWire Grabs Some IntelliSpace

The San Diego-based broadband ISP takes over IntelliSpace's customer service agreements, building access contracts, and equipment in Southern California.

by Michael Singer of siliconvalley.internet.com [July 29, 2002]

New York-based IntelliSpace sold off substantially all of its Southern California assets Thursday.

San Diego-based RedWire Broadband (formerly VoloNet) picked up IntelliSpace's assets in a cash and stock deal for an undisclosed amount. The bill of sale includes customer service agreements, building access contracts and equipment.

Once in the business of connecting buildings to fiber optic networks, IntelliSpace was responsible for wiring several prominent New York buildings including the Javits Center, Rockefeller Center, and Radio City Music Hall. The company recently secured a gaggle of funding as it plans a nationwide roll-out, which seems to have stalled on the West coast.

IntelliSpace operations include many Class A office building deployments and a significant number of sophisticated users requiring higher committed information rates, VPNs, and firewalls.

RedWire says it will use the contracts, contacts, and technology to expand its broadband Internet access marketing to small- and medium-sized businesses in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties.

The company also provides traditional ISP services including e-mail services, webhosting, server colocation, and domain name registration.

Currently, RedWire has more than 300 'Lit' buildings and approximately 1,000 broadband subscribers in Southern California.

"This in-market acquisition allows us to leverage and scale our existing technical and human resources and puts us in a strong positive cash flow position to pursue other acquisition opportunities while we continue to rapidly develop our wireless infrastructure," said RedWire CEO, Edward Romanov. "We are especially pleased with the level of professionalism demonstrated by the IntelliSpace staff in their commitment to maintain network reliability and customer support during the transition."

The Los Angeles basin is currently the second fastest growing broadband local market behind New York, according to Nielsen//NetRatings . A recent report found Los Angeles is experiencing 88 percent growth year over year, while Internet mainstays like Silicon Valley have only seen 21 percent growth.

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