June 4, 2002 -- Colocation provider MeridianTelesis today announced a national expansion in which it is acquiring three data centers previously operated by Broadwing.
Philadelphia-based Meridian also announced the hiring of Robert Gionesi as executive vice president of sales and marketing. Gionesi most recently held a similar title at Internap Network Services, and also has experience with AT&T and MCI.
Broadwing has transferred operational management of its New York, Dallas and Santa Clara, Calif. colocation facilities to MeridianTelesis. Broadwing will continue to maintain and manage its points of presence at the three facilities, while MeridianTelesis will provide colocation services to customers.
"This agreement with Broadwing and the addition of Robert to our executive team represents MeridianTelesis's first major step in establishing a national footprint in some of the best facilities in the best markets," said David Taffet, founder and president of MeridianTelesis.
Taffet said the expansion "puts us in a great position to capitalize on the market downturn and create opportunities to provide quality of service and flexibility to current and potential customers residing in these facilities."
Gionesi will be responsible for implementing and overseeing direct sales, alternative sales, field marketing, post-sale client services and client retention for MeridianTelesis.
MeridianTelesis said it hopes to help large bandwidth providers and other colocation facilities alleviate the burden of managing multiple sites, allowing them to focus on their core business. In addition, MeridianTelesis is offering colocation and bandwidth services over Broadwing's national all-optical switched network.