Why Broadband Office failed? Answering that (not the public version but the real cause) would lead to a far better understanding of the telecoms market, notably, the chancesof FTTx and Metro Loop Access.
I'm still researching and will share with the Thread.
Zell Fell on Stake in Firm: BroadBand Office Files Ch. 11 5/11/2001
CHICAGO – After about $300 million, a minority of which came from local real estate financier Sam Zell, BroadBand Office filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday and fired 348 workers, the company has announced. Only a transitional team of 35 people remains.
Zell, the billionaire founder of Chicago-based Equity Office Properties Trust, put his faith into Falls Church, Va.-based BroadBand Office (BBO) as he has with dozens of other highrises in Chicago.
BBO, which was founded in July 1999, is one of a growing number of application service providers (ASPs) targeting the computing needs of the thousands of companies at work inside urban office buildings.
The firm had hoped highrise tenants would consider its one-stop shop for computing services as an amenity to the building, much like a health club or concierge service. But like Chicago-based Eziaz recently found, the price of growing quickly and expanding rapidly without signing customers also turned fatal for BBO.
In a letter sent to laid-off employees on Wednesday, BBO vice president of marketing Scott Langmack wrote, "After many months of work to secure funding, BBO has regretfully filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition and is now in the process of being acquired.
"As many of you are aware, we have been working right up to the last hours with a range of different companies with an objective of preserving as many BBO jobs as possible. Despite considerable effort, the mergers that would have enabled us to preserve BBO employee positions have not materialized.
"Nearly all BBO employees will be laid off today, Wednesday, May 9, 2001, which will include some of the executive staff.
"During a brief transition period of about 30 to 45 days, a very small transition team of about 35 employees will be working on transition issues, including maintaining service to current customers and working on shut down issues."
He concludes, "Sadly, industry inertia was working against us, and despite being 185 percent of plan in sales, despite high customer satisfaction and despite a ramping product line-up, the investment community was not prepared to buck the trend of avoiding broadband service industries."
Company officials did not answer or return calls. |
