Zephyr takes broadband Internet access to Central Europe

October 13, 2000 (Computerworld)

Zephyr Telecommunications Inc., an international Internet protocol communications company based in Florham Park, N.J., yesterday announced it has acquired CE Com B.V., a fiber-optic network provider in the Czech Republic.

The acquisition of CE Com B.V., which operates a high-speed fiber-optic network throughout Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary and Austria, will give Zephyr one of the highest-capacity networks in Central Europe. Coupled with existing Zephyr networks, the company expects the new network to enhance its ability to provide broadband IP services to businesses, Internet service providers and telecommunications carriers throughout Europe.

Terrence McGarty, Zephyr's CEO, said the company's expansion was planned to take advantage of the growing demand for network infrastructure in Central Europe. "There's a glut of fiber in Western Europe, but very little in the emerging markets of Central Europe," he said. McGarty added that Zephyr's network currently covers 70% of Poland, but that businesses looking to get T1 connectivity in other areas of Central Europe must often wait 90 to 120 days for service, and that equates to lost business.

McGarty would not disclose the price that Zephyr, which is privately held, is paying for CE Com, but he said "the price was right."

Zephyr has developed its IP platform by combining an international broadband network, broadband networks within countries, and an integrated and distributed Internet data services support facility. Zephyr provides worldwide IP telecommunications services, IP domestic telecommunications services, high-speed Internet access and Internet data services, including Web hosting.

Word of the acquisition comes only three days after Zephyr announced it had completed a $44 million private equity financing deal with a large group of investors, including Citicorp International Finance Corp., Bowman Capital Management and others, to help expand its network infrastructure and finance key acquisitions.

In June the company installed an OC-3 network link between its switching hub in New Jersey and Frankfurt, Germany. The OC-3 enables a significant increase in capacity between North America and Eastern Europe.

A study published in May by The Yankee Group, a Boston-based IT consulting firm, found that there are now more than 9 million business Internet accounts in Europe, adding that "interest in business use of the Internet and IP has never been greater."