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Mad City Broadband acquired by Atlanta firm

Jeff Richgels  —  9/11/2008 5:34 pm

Atlanta-based Xiocom Wireless announced Thursday that it has acquired Mad City Broadband, which provides wireless broadband in parts of Madison. Terms were not disclosed.

"Mad City has been an innovative, even game changing, industry player," Xiocom President Troy Richardson said in a statement. "By joining Mad City to Xiocom, we are opening up a host of new opportunities for our customers in Madison and our partnerships around the globe."

Richardson said the acquisition would enable Mad City Broadband to expand its coverage and offerings here and achieve new milestones by working with strategic partners like Cisco Systems.

Mad City's 10-square-mile, indoor and outdoor broadband network in Madison has been named a Cisco Showcase Network.

Mad City has struggled to grow its customer base in the face of technical problems, and growing competition from other wireless providers such as cellular companies, as well as free wireless broadband offerings at places such as coffee shops.

"The combination of our local technical and support teams, Xiocom's global reach and resources provide a unique opportunity to create the world's most comprehensive set of wireless broadband offerings to serve the Madison community," Todd Anderson, Mad City's chief technical officer, said in a statement. "This is an excellent growth opportunity and evolution for our company."

Xiocom CEO Jeff Spence said the company aims to build a network of sales and technical partnerships around the globe and become the premier broadband wireless company in the industry.

"The acquisition of Mad City Broadband is a perfect combination of great customers and a network operator with the desire to deliver a world-class customer experience," Spence said. "We are very excited about our future in Madison."

Jeff Richgels  —  9/11/2008 5:34 pm