FWD: Web backbone provider Priori mulls bankruptcy
From Ziff-Davis newswire. Another one bites the dust?
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By Ben Elgin, Sm@rt Reseller August 12, 1998 5:47 PM PT [IMAGE]
Less than one year after Priori Networks Inc. opened its doors for business, the national Internet backbone provider is on the brink of bankruptcy, Sm@rt Reseller has learned.
All the company's employees have been laid off and the network operation center is no longer functional, according to a source at Priori. Temporary transit arrangements have been made for Priori customers in the Portland, Ore., Chicago, Washington DC, and Palo Alto, Calif. areas, but other customers may be left to fend for themselves, the source added.
Priori president and CEO Robert Shearing says severe financial shortfalls will force Priori to file for Chapter Seven bankruptcy within several days unless an acquisition offer is made. Under the rules of Chapter Seven, the company will be forced to liquidate its assets to pay off creditors.
"It's not looking good -- we will have a final decision in the next couple of days," concedes Shearing.
The company, which launched last October, specialized in selling backbone access to Internet service providers, usually at a lower cost than its telecommunications competitors.
High hopes dashed With points of presence in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Los Angeles; Palo Alto, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle and Washington, D.C., Priori executives once had high hopes for success in the ISP backbone vertical market.
But, with a new breed of well-funded backbone providers entering the market, many industry observers believe Priori was a dollar short and a year too late.
"They came in when the window of opportunity was closing and they made several key mistakes. Perhaps the biggest error was focusing too heavily on engineering while ignoring the sales side," says ISP consultant Michael Dillon, who worked for Priori Networks for six months.
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========================================================================== Eric Germann CCTec ekgermann@cctec.com Van Wert, OH 45891 http://www.cctec.com Ph: 419 968 2640 Fax: 419 968 2641 Network Design, Connectivity & System Integration Services A Microsoft Solution Provider
On Thu, 13 Aug 1998, Eric Germann wrote:
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This is really inet-access material and it has been hashed out there since early this afternoon. -- Michael Dillon - Internet & ISP Consulting Memra Communications Inc. - E-mail: michael@memra.com Check the website for my Internet World articles - http://www.memra.com
I had heard this through several sources and on a couple of lists today as well. Sorry to be feasting on dead bodies, but keeping people online is more important than netiquette right now. Anyone in Chicago who has found themselves suddenly looking at disconnection is welcome to call us; we have capacity (ie: hardware) available right now and may be able to get circuits rehomed quickly as well (if you're using TCG or MFS for the facilities) as we have fiber from both in our engineering room. -- -- Karl Denninger (karl@MCS.Net)| MCSNet - Serving Chicagoland and Wisconsin http://www.mcs.net/ | T1's from $600 monthly / All Lines K56Flex/DOV | NEW! Corporate ISDN Prices dropped by up to 50%! Voice: [+1 312 803-MCS1 x219]| EXCLUSIVE NEW FEATURE ON ALL PERSONAL ACCOUNTS Fax: [+1 312 803-4929] | *SPAMBLOCK* Technology now included at no cost On Thu, Aug 13, 1998 at 12:01:34AM -0400, Eric Germann wrote:
From Ziff-Davis newswire. Another one bites the dust?
Comments?
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By Ben Elgin, Sm@rt Reseller August 12, 1998 5:47 PM PT [IMAGE]
Less than one year after Priori Networks Inc. opened its doors for business, the national Internet backbone provider is on the brink of bankruptcy, Sm@rt Reseller has learned.
All the company's employees have been laid off and the network operation center is no longer functional, according to a source at Priori. Temporary transit arrangements have been made for Priori customers in the Portland, Ore., Chicago, Washington DC, and Palo Alto, Calif. areas, but other customers may be left to fend for themselves, the source added.
Priori president and CEO Robert Shearing says severe financial shortfalls will force Priori to file for Chapter Seven bankruptcy within several days unless an acquisition offer is made. Under the rules of Chapter Seven, the company will be forced to liquidate its assets to pay off creditors.
"It's not looking good -- we will have a final decision in the next couple of days," concedes Shearing.
The company, which launched last October, specialized in selling backbone access to Internet service providers, usually at a lower cost than its telecommunications competitors.
High hopes dashed With points of presence in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Los Angeles; Palo Alto, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle and Washington, D.C., Priori executives once had high hopes for success in the ISP backbone vertical market.
But, with a new breed of well-funded backbone providers entering the market, many industry observers believe Priori was a dollar short and a year too late.
"They came in when the window of opportunity was closing and they made several key mistakes. Perhaps the biggest error was focusing too heavily on engineering while ignoring the sales side," says ISP consultant Michael Dillon, who worked for Priori Networks for six months.
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Copyright (c) 1998 ZDNet. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of ZDNet is prohibited. ZDNet and the ZDNet logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Inc.
========================================================================== Eric Germann CCTec ekgermann@cctec.com Van Wert, OH 45891 http://www.cctec.com Ph: 419 968 2640 Fax: 419 968 2641 Network Design, Connectivity & System Integration Services A Microsoft Solution Provider
At 11:42 PM 8/12/98 -0500, Karl Denninger wrote:
I had heard this through several sources and on a couple of lists today as well.
You'd be surprised how many people I heard it from. :) Unfortunately, the rumor is correct, Priori is in bad shape and will likely not continue as a viable business. :( The article was ... not entirely correct, but close enough not to quibble. We have not filed for bankruptcy, but the chances are high enough that I'm not willing to risk my downstream's continued existence on ours. I'd like to add some facts to stop the rampant rumors: * Priori has not filed for bankruptcy, but likely will Friday or Monday barring a miracle. * I turned off our web page. * The backbone is running and has a high likelihood of continuing to run until at least 3 PM PDT, Friday, 8/14, 1998. After that, I do not know. * The employees are all laid off. (I'm technically unemployed - so I can't be speaking for "the company"! ;) * All customers have been notified.
Sorry to be feasting on dead bodies, but keeping people online is more important than netiquette right now.
I COMPLETELY agree, and I am currently working for free to get our customers moved. I do appreciate any offers of assistance to get my friends and customers "on net" ASAP. I currently have problems in the Denver, Dallas and Boston markets. I believe I have secured at least temporary transit for all customers in all other cities. There isn't a whole lot of bandwidth necessary, but getting a loop in days is, as we all know, nearly impossible. If someone in our collocation facilities could keep them up, even sub-optimally, even temporarily, I would greatly appreciate it and donate my engineering time to do whatever was necessary to get it done. Here are my POP locations: Boston 10 Second Avenue Waltham, MA 02154 781-672 Two DS1s Dallas The "Infomart" 1950 Stemmons Freeway Dallas, TX 75207 214-760 One DS1 Denver 8765 West Orchard Drive Englewood, CO 90017 303-221 One 6 Mbps fractional DS3 All are MFS owned POPs facilities. Even if you are not in those locations, but close or think you can rig something for the customers, I'd love to hear from you. Please call the NOC line 888-477-7662 and ask for Patrick. Thank you.
Karl Denninger (karl@MCS.Net)| MCSNet - Serving Chicagoland and Wisconsin
TTFN, patrick ************************************************************** Patrick W. Gilmore voice: +1-650-482-2840 Director of Operations, CCIE #2983 fax: +1-650-482-2844 PRIORI NETWORKS, INC. http://www.priori.net "Tomorrow's Performance.... Today" **************************************************************
Patrick: We can Help in Dallas in the Infomart, I will give the NOC a call. Jeff Smith President Verio Texas At 01:38 AM 8/13/98 -0700, Patrick W. Gilmore wrote:
At 11:42 PM 8/12/98 -0500, Karl Denninger wrote:
I had heard this through several sources and on a couple of lists today as well.
You'd be surprised how many people I heard it from. :)
Unfortunately, the rumor is correct, Priori is in bad shape and will likely not continue as a viable business. :( The article was ... not entirely correct, but close enough not to quibble. We have not filed for bankruptcy, but the chances are high enough that I'm not willing to risk my downstream's continued existence on ours.
I'd like to add some facts to stop the rampant rumors:
* Priori has not filed for bankruptcy, but likely will Friday or Monday barring a miracle. * I turned off our web page. * The backbone is running and has a high likelihood of continuing to run until at least 3 PM PDT, Friday, 8/14, 1998. After that, I do not know. * The employees are all laid off. (I'm technically unemployed - so I can't be speaking for "the company"! ;) * All customers have been notified.
Sorry to be feasting on dead bodies, but keeping people online is more important than netiquette right now.
I COMPLETELY agree, and I am currently working for free to get our customers moved. I do appreciate any offers of assistance to get my friends and customers "on net" ASAP. I currently have problems in the Denver, Dallas and Boston markets. I believe I have secured at least temporary transit for all customers in all other cities. There isn't a whole lot of bandwidth necessary, but getting a loop in days is, as we all know, nearly impossible. If someone in our collocation facilities could keep them up, even sub-optimally, even temporarily, I would greatly appreciate it and donate my engineering time to do whatever was necessary to get it done.
Here are my POP locations:
Boston 10 Second Avenue Waltham, MA 02154 781-672 Two DS1s
Dallas The "Infomart" 1950 Stemmons Freeway Dallas, TX 75207 214-760 One DS1
Denver 8765 West Orchard Drive Englewood, CO 90017 303-221 One 6 Mbps fractional DS3
All are MFS owned POPs facilities.
Even if you are not in those locations, but close or think you can rig something for the customers, I'd love to hear from you. Please call the NOC line 888-477-7662 and ask for Patrick. Thank you.
Karl Denninger (karl@MCS.Net)| MCSNet - Serving Chicagoland and Wisconsin
TTFN, patrick
************************************************************** Patrick W. Gilmore voice: +1-650-482-2840 Director of Operations, CCIE #2983 fax: +1-650-482-2844 PRIORI NETWORKS, INC. http://www.priori.net "Tomorrow's Performance.... Today" **************************************************************
At 01:38 AM 8/13/98 -0700, Patrick W. Gilmore wrote:
I COMPLETELY agree, and I am currently working for free to get our customers moved. I do appreciate any offers of assistance to get my friends and customers "on net" ASAP. I currently have problems in the Denver, Dallas and Boston markets. I believe I have secured at least temporary transit for all customers in all other cities. There isn't a whole lot of bandwidth necessary, but getting a loop in days is, as we all know, nearly impossible. If someone in our collocation facilities could keep them up, even sub-optimally, even temporarily, I would greatly appreciate it and donate my engineering time to do whatever was necessary to get it done.
Thank you all for the tremendous response. With your help I have gotten all of my customers moved so that not one Priori customer should suffer any significant downtime. (Just long enough to move the line.) I do appreciate everyone's offer of help. Kinda restores my faith in the industry. I would like to single out Above.Net, specifically Dave Rand and Steve Rubin. Above.Net is helping our customers in ways I would not expect any profit-minded company to do. They are bending over backwards to help people who will probably never pay them a dime, and doing it quickly and cheerfully. These are really good guys and I think they deserve a lot of credit for helping me and my downstreams out of a VERY tight spot. Thanx guys. Of course, there are lots of other upstreams who are making extraordinary efforts to keep one or more of my downstreams on Net in the near future. Please do not think that I do not appreciate it. Thank you all. TTFN, patrick ************************************************************** Patrick W. Gilmore voice: +1-650-482-2840 Director of Operations, CCIE #2983 fax: +1-650-482-2844 PRIORI NETWORKS, INC. http://www.priori.net "Tomorrow's Performance.... Today" **************************************************************
participants (5)
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Eric Germann -
Jeff Smith -
Karl Denninger -
Michael Dillon -
Patrick W. Gilmore