Broadview Networks Takes a Broader View, Expands Operations

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Nov 26, 1999 by Dickinson, Casey J

SYRACUSE-New York City-based

telecommunications company

Broadview Networks is expanding its operations in Syracuse with a new office and new switching equipment.

"The switch is going to serve the entire Upstate market," says Vern M. Kennedy, president and CEO of Broadview.

Last month, Broadview changed its name from Community NetWorks. The company is building an integrated voice and data network to offer local, long-distance, and DSL (digital subscriber line) service, Broadview has 10,000 customer telephone lines in the Syracuse area and has a market presence in New York State and Boston, Mass.

The company recently moved its downtown Syracuse office from 4,100 sq. ft. at Salina Place into 20,000 sq. ft. of space in the Syracuse Building at 224 Harrison St. The building houses the company's switch, as well as the offices for its Account Management Center. The center serves Broadview's larger commercial customers.

The Syracuse Building is located in the downtown Economic Development Zone and is also home to AppliedTheory Corp.

Broadview serves 75,000 customer telephone lines and has estimated annual revenues of $45 million. Approximately

two-thirds of the company's customers

are commercial accounts. Broadview

employs 300; 50 of those positions are in

the Syracuse office. The company is

privately held. Major investors include

venture-capital firms such as Palo Alto,

Calif.-based Communications Ventures; New

Enterprise Associates of Reston, Va.; and Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture Partners of San Francisco, Calif.

Broadview is using Nortel Network's

DMS-500 switching equipment under an agreement reached earlier this year with the network-equipment manufacturer. The company's downstate switch in Queens is already on line.

"The rollout of DSL service," Kennedy says, "is the next big step for us." He notes that Broadview plans to offer DSL service in Syracuse beginning in December. The technology allows highspeed data transmission over standard copper telephone lines. Broadview leases telephone lines from Bell Atlantic at a cost of $12 per month, but Kennedy says the company can still compete in the DSL market by offering the service as part of a package of local and long-distance service.

A recent Federal Communications Commission ruling requires companies such as Bell Atlantic to share telephone lines with data carriers.

Though numerous smaller telephone service providers and Bell Atlantic are starting DSL service, Kennedy believes Broadview can get a significant share of the splintered market.