industry telecommunications and information technology founded 1996 headquarters 320 interstate north parkway atlanta georgia area served united states canada puerto rico key people tony tomae president & ceo dr. r. kirby godsey chairman of the board jim o brien evp & chief operating officer shawn murray svp & chief sales officer chris bunce svp & legal regulatory & general counsel scott murphy vice president and chief financial officer michelle ansley chief administrative officer human resources products voip services voice services network services cloud computing services mobile services number of employees 1 400 2014 1 website birch.com birch communications is an atlanta georgia based provider of ip based communications network broadband cloud computing and information technology services to small mid sized enterprise and wholesale business customers in the united states canada and puerto rico . 1 2 3 founded in 1996 in the wake of the 1996 telecommunications act several years later the company began acquiring other telecom companies in an effort to increase its network size and service offerings . 4 birch communications raised 77.5 million in funding in 2011 5 and 110 million in funding in 2012 after it financed a new 90 million facility . 6 atlanta business chronicle named birch one of atlanta s top 50 private companies in 2013 7 and that year company revenues were approximately 207 million . 7 birch communications also acquired cbeyond in 2014 8 for 323 million 9 which expanded birch s cloud service offerings . 9 in september 2014 birch announced that they undergone 24 acquisitions overall worth more than 500 million . 10 birch has regional operations centers in atlanta macon georgia and emporia kansas 1 3 with approximately 1 400 employees . 1 tony tomae serves as birch s president and chief executive officer . 11 contents 1 history 1.1 founding as access integrated networks 1996 1999 1.2 early acquisitions 2000 2007 1.3 merger and expansion 2007 2010 1.4 growth intro florida new funding 2011 2012 1.5 covista acquisition 2013 1.6 cbeyond acquisition 2014 1.7 recent developments 2015 2016 2 products and services 3 facilities and staff 4 community involvement 5 acquisition timeline 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit founding as access integrated networks 1996 1999 edit like many competitive telecom leader hopefuls oddo and his partners took advantage of the fcc s landmark 1996 telecommunications act and founded access integrated networks but the one striking difference was that unlike other clecs they weren t dependent on venture capitalists that were anxious to get a quick exit strategy . fierce telecom in november 2011 11 birch was founded in 1996 as access integrated networks by vincent m. oddo and partners . 11 initially the headquarters of the it service provider were located in macon georgia 10 near atlanta georgia . 2 access was formed directly in the wake of the telecom act of 1996 and initially the company was a re seller of telecom services focused on the under served small and medium sized business customer segments . 10 using a business model developed by its founders such as vince oddo the company used a different funding model than many other competitive local exchange carriers 11 in that they weren t reliant on venture capitalists . 11 by 1997 the company had a client base of around 100 . 4 early acquisitions 2000 2007 edit in 2001 the company s founders began funding acquisitions with their own bank accounts and company profits . 11 by 2002 access integrated networks was serving nine states and had annual revenue of 40 million . 10 oddo became president and ceo in 2003 also retaining a role as one of three shareholders . 10 oddo previously had served as chief information officer and president of graphic scanning which had been acquired by bell south in 1992 12 and had also served executive roles at nuvox communications and network telephone . 12 in 2003 oddo implemented a major shift in business strategy and focused on building out the size of the company s ip network through acquisitions . 10 in november 2005 13 access integrated networks acquired customers from kentucky based cinergy communications . 13 14 access then acquired 43 000 local access lines from trinsic communications 15 16 in november 2006 13 a delaware based provider of local and long distance telephone services . at the same time access also assumed sprint local assets . 15 16 in 2006 access had annual revenues of around 70 million . 17 access purchased local long distance residential and smb customers in florida and georgia from idt telecom in april 2007 . 13 by later that year access was serving nine states in the southeast and had 215 employees . 15 its business involved 75 percent reselling the services of companies such as at & t with around 25 percent of its business conducted on its own network . based in atlanta access as of 2007 also maintained its operational headquarters in nearby macon . 17 merger and expansion 2007 2010 edit access integrated networks started the acquisition of birch telecom in november 2007 . 17 birch was a large telecom company 11 in kansas city 17 which had recently survived two bankruptcies . 11 though undergoing financial difficulties birch provided voice and internet services to customers in 26 states . 18 the final transaction took place for an undisclosed sum in february 2008 19 with the new combined annual revenue of the companies reaching 200 million . together combined employees equaled 400 15 18 and combined voice and data lines equaled 300 000 . 15 vincent oddo retained his role as president and ceo of access with no layoffs announced as part of the merger . 15 access integrated networks rechristened the integrated company as birch communications 18 on july 1 2008 19 with headquarters remaining in atlanta . 17 birch telecom s operations in kansas city emporia kansas macon and atlanta remained intact . 18 in late 2008 13 birch communications inc. 19 purchased approximately 30 000 business access lines from north little rock arkansas based navigator telecommunications for an undisclosed sum . 20 the acquisition increased consumer density for birch in existing markets and allowed it to expand into california and arkansas . 19 with the acquisition birch increased its market presence to 31 states 20 with around 325 000 access lines . 19 the acquisition of cleartel communications in august 2009 13 added around 100 000 business and residential sites to birch s customer base as well as facilities in florida . 13 birch finalized a purchase of freedom communications usa s assets in october 2010 . 13 in december 2010 birch then finished the acquisition of 13 assets from american fiber network 13 and closecall america . 13 the acquisitions added 60 000 access lines to birch s customer base of 300 000 and expanded birch s operations to 38 states . 21 growth intro florida new funding 2011 2012 edit in april 2011 birch acquired acutel assets 22 a company which is based in dallas texas . 5 birch communications finished a 77.5 million funding round in june 2011 . 5 the company announced that some of the funds would be used to finance further acquisitions with a birch spokesman explaining that we ve gotten very good at integrating new customer bases into our systems and not increasing our operational costs . we run a tight ship . 23 in october 2011 13 56 000 business and residential access lines in the orlando florida area were added to birch s network with the acquisition of cordia communications for 8 million . 23 the acquisition was financed in part from the funding round that summer . 5 by november 2011 all excluding two of the 12 acquisitions made by birch since 2001 acutel and cordia had been funded through its own profits and from the bank accounts of oddo and his partners . 11 by january 2012 birch maintained ip based communications in 38 states . 4 while the company had originally focused on being a local telephone provider and long distance reseller by that time the company had also branched into communications and it services delivered through its private ip network . since 1997 birch s client base grown from around 100 customers to 100 000 customers largely through acquisitions . 4 birch continued its expansion into florida when it acquired the operating assets of astrotel 24 in april 2012 . 13 the assets included an ip network spanning the tampa bay florida area 4 25 and was birch s fourteenth acquisition since 2006 . 25 birch acquired the assets of dpiteleconnect in may 2012 . 13 in june 2012 cit vendor finance awarded birch a 7.5 million equipment financing deal . 6 birch communications then announced an infusion of 110 million in cash in july 2012 after it financed a new 90 million facility with various investors . 6 birch purchased port charlotte florida based daystar communications in october 2012 . 26 27 the deal expanded birch s small and medium business customer base in southwest florida and other parts of the southeastern united states . 27 covista acquisition 2013 edit birch carrier solutions the wholesale division of birch communications inc. expanded throughout 2013 . that year wholesale clients such as belgacom and primus telecommunications were added to their client portfolio . 28 in february 2013 cobank committed around 12 million to birch s operations becoming a part of birch s senior secured credit facility syndication group . 29 birch continued its tuck in acquisition strategy with its march 2013 acquisition of chattanooga tennessee based covista communications . 30 31 the strategy targeted companies that would increase customer density and expand birch s network near existing markets . 4 32 covista communications was a facilities based telecommunications service provider with business and residential customers in 48 states 33 and large switching centers in tennessee and new york . the acquisition expanded birch s network by ten states bringing its total number covered to 45 . 31 in may 2013 13 birch acquired louisville kentucky based lightyear network solutions for 22 million . 34 35 the acquisition allowed birch to expand its birch ip network service to 11 states . 34 in august 2013 birch acquired norcross georgia based ernest communications . 36 37 ernest had been a major wholesale customer of birch and the acquisition expanded birch s operations to all 50 american states puerto rico and canada . 38 birch announced it was offering prepaid wireless services via its tempo communications unit in november 2013 . previously birch had only offered prepaid home phones . by that time the company had 500 000 access lines nationwide . 3 company revenues in 2013 totaled approximately 207 million . 7 atlanta business chronicle named birch one of atlanta s top 50 private companies in october 2013 as ranked by company wide revenue . 7 cbeyond acquisition 2014 edit birch acquired customers from liberty bell telecom in june 2014 a subsidiary of dishnet . 39 the acquisition expanded birch s customer base in the denver colorado area . 10 later that month birch acquired louisiana based everycall . 10 39 birch communications also acquired atlanta based cbeyond in july 2014 8 for 323 million . following the purchase cbeyond was delisted from the nasdaq stock exchange and its operations were folded into birch . 9 the acquisition marked a change in birch s service portfolio and expanded birch s cloud service offerings . 9 the same month birch acquired nebraska based selectel communications its 20th acquisition since 2006 . 40 in september 2014 birch announced that they undergone 24 acquisitions overall worth more than 500 million . 10 in november 2014 birch challenged in federal court a dmca subpoena issued by rightscorp . birch refused to hand over personal information on its customers and called the subpoena an invasive and overly broad fishing expedition . birch