NorthPoint Officially Shuts Network

After a series of high profile stock drops, lawsuits and an eventual buyout by AT&T, representatives at NorthPoint Communications officially announced late Wednesday that the company has been forced to shut down its DSL network after efforts to secure funding for interim operations failed.

NorthPoint has been operating under Chapter 11 status since early last year.

In a statement released by the company, a spokesperson said NorthPoint is now taking immediate steps to take down service.

“NorthPoint advises its customers to expect network outages and termination of DSL services immediately,” read the statement. “[We] urge customers to contact their Internet Service Providers directly for additional details regarding future service.”

Representatives at the company would not comment further on the closure.

NorthPoint’s demise has sent ripples throughout the DSL marketplace, with most pundits seeing the AT&T buyout as a clear boost to Ma Bell’s quest for dominance in the broadband arena. Many big name ISPs have utilized NorthPoint’s network to carry their services, most notably Telocity and Microsoft’s MSN, the latter of which announced just last week that it would be unable to provide subscribers with the MSN DSL service because it can no longer gain access to NorthPoint’s network.