Table of Contents

Big Bandwidth Is a Capital Idea for OEN
Optical Entertainment Network Inc. is a good model for the service provider of the future. The company offers video, data and VoIP services over its own FTTH network in Houston, and expects to turn up service in California and Florida in about a month. OEN’s CFO James Hagemeier speaks with xchange’s Paula Bernier about the company’s business plan and the money behind it.

The IPO, M&A Connection
Companies, from service and equipment providers to OSS/BSS outfits, have joined forces to create scale, arming themselves to compete against bigger competitors and giving themselves access to more money. The only drawback is that M&A quashes innovation. Still, private investors welcome M&A. Investors predict the industry will see more unconventional types of deals, the kind where the synergy isn’t immediately obvious.

Going Public
So far this year, minus a couple exceptions, public markets have been generous with telecom/tech. And, as long as the debt markets hold up and only strong companies put themselves out there, the trend is expected to continue.

How MetroPCS Pulled Off the Year’s Biggest Telecom IPO
MetroPCS Wireless Inc. is still the telecom industry’s biggest IPO of the year. The company in mid-April wowed Wall Street with one of the largest IPOs since 2004.

The Vonage Effect
It seems reasonable to assume that Vonage Holdings Corp.’s overhyped and undervalued IPO soured investors on other telecom companies. But while it hasn’t helped anyone else, the Vonage situation also hasn’t hurt as much as it could have, private equity partners say.

NVCA Wants to Knock Your SoX Off
Many companies view IPOs as the ultimate exit strategy — venture capitalists get a return on their investments, businesses raise millions to fund growth and, perhaps most importantly, the economy thrives. But that’s not happening among small companies, which can’t afford the expense of being public because of costs imposed by 2002’s Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SoX). The National Venture Capital Association is hoping to change the situation, however.

Virgin Mobile Quintuples IPO Target
Virgin Mobile USA isn’t cow-towing to a skeptical market. Instead, even as rival Amp’d Mobile imploded and the industry questioned the MVNO model, Richard Branson’s company increased its IPO goal fivefold.

States Take the Lead on Video Franchise Reform
Most states wrapped up legislative work in the early summer, and by that time, 14 more had followed Texas in passing video franchise reform laws. The changes promise to give consumers more choices at lower prices and spur broadband investment in America, say some industry analysts. Even some cable representatives are happy with the updates.