NorthPoint Communications is taking strategic steps to retain its position
as a leader in the DSL marketplace.
As part of its recovery plan — bought on by a breakdown in acquisition
talkes with Verizon — the DSL service provider is forging alliances with
stronger ISP partners. On Thursday, NorthPoint revealed that it has
established a partnership with broadband provider Telocity.
As part of that relationship, the residential digital subscriber lines
NorthPoint acquired from now-bankrupt Flashcom are being migrated to
Telocity’s care.
NorthPoint does not anticipate Flashcom’s bankruptcy to adversely affect
the purchase of the lines. The acquisition of the Flashcom lines was
completed before Flashcom announced it had filed for Chapter 11 on Tuesday.
Flashcom lost its lines after failing to make financial arrangements with
NorthPoint.
Negotiations with other potential partners are in the works, noted Marvin
Wamble, NorthPoint spokesperson. “We are conversing with other ISPs to
handle business lines,” he said. “We are exploring every available option to
provide continued service to end users affected by other troubled Internet
service providers, including transferring lines to Telocity or other viable
providers.”
Thursday’s announcement is part of a long-term plan. Following the failed
acqusition talks with Verizon in early December, NorthPoint was forced to
layoff 19 percent of its workforce.
At that time, CEO Liz Fetter announced plans to mold a stronger business
model for the company. She noted the company has been able to
capitalize on a long-standing track record of attracting the highest quality
partners.
“In fact, I have received numerous calls of support from several of our
strategic partners,” she said.
The NorthPoint program is similar in theory a program launched by Covad
to reassure customers of struggling ISPs. The Covad Safety Net Program is
described as an organized transition program offering affected customers a
DSL connection and IP services to either an ISP in the program or through
COVAD.net, the company’s direct Internet service.