Broadslate makes run at local B2B DSL - San Francisco Business Times:

vypybiza.wordpress.com
Headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., upstart Broadslatre has opened operations in Nashville along with 39 othert markets in11 states. The 18-month-olde company has been working behind the sceness for the pastsix months, laying its groundworkk to offer its symmetrical digital subscribere line services to small and mid-siz e businesses, says general manager Michael Lillicrap. "We openes up the sales office May 1," he The company focuses solely onbusiness customers, toutinb its SDSL as a faster and more cost-efficient alternativew to traditional DSL or T1 By Broadslate's estimation, SDSL enablee its clients to upload and download data at the same making it more effective tool for video-conferencing and transferring larger amounts of data.
The company also has plan s to rollout voice-over-Internet-protocol and voice-over-digital-subscriber-line services as the technologies mature. It's one thinyg to put together a company based onthe high-speec transfer of information over copper telephonre wires, but making it work as a business mode l has been a tricky Indeed, with telecommunication and DSL companies withering on the it's a Darwinian Over the past year, the likes of NorthPoin Communications, Teligent and have learned tough lessons at the hands of investord not willing to fund DSL ventureas for the indefinite pursuit of Teligent filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy May 21 with long-terjm debt of $1.44 billion.
The company's assetzs are about $1.2 billion. NorthPoint filee for reorganization early this year with debts of about $500 million. AT&T boughyt the company's assets for about $135 Covad Communications reported a net lossof $1.4 billion in 2000. Company officials say it has enouggh cash to last untilo the second quarter ofnext year. Covad is currently tryiny to raisebetween $400 and $700 The good news amidst the troubled news may be that the companiee who can weather the storm of an uncertai market will one day thrivre ­ if they can hold out. "Igt becomes a matter of who can hang around the saysKen Shafton, Broadslate director of marketing.
Broadslatr recently closed its last round of financingvwith $60 million in private equity The latest round of financing bringws the company's investment totakl to about $95 The company was jump-started with $34.75 million from Columbia JP Morgan Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Charles River The last round of financing included thoser players and added Hunt Private Equities, National Investors, Courgt Squire and Tall Oaks. The connection with Columbia Capitall gave the companyits birth. Founderd were involved in the telecommunications businessd and had worked as consultants for When DSLwas booming, Columbiaw approached the men with the idea of startin Broadslate.
"Normally you put together your businessa plan and go lookingfor investors. This kind of worked in Shafton says.