March 27, 2002 -- Denver-based data center operator @Lightspeed has changed its name to Securitas and appointed a new management team to run the company.
The company debuted early last year, and in September opened a 224,000 square foot, $70 million data center in the busy Denver market, which serves as home base for Level 3, Qwest and Inflow. Sprint, Worldcom, ViaWest and Switch & Data also operate data centers in the Denver area.
The new name - which is Latin for "peace of mind" - reflects an emphasis on business continuity services and the financial stability of its owner, The Magness Group, a debt-free company that founded the cable TV pioneer Telecommunications Inc. (TCI).
"We wanted a name and brand that would distinguish us from our competition and symbolize the core of our operation," said Steve Knudson, chairman of the Securitas board of directors and managing partner and general counsel for the Magness Group.
As @Lightspeed, the company was led by former University of Colorado football standouts Charles Johnson and Alfred Williams, who served as president and executive vice president, respectively.
Johnson and Williams are not part of the new management team, but former CEO Thomas Espy will continue as vice chairman of the board of directors.
Former Rhythms Netconnections executive Kenneth Monblatt will be the company's new CEO and chief operating officer.
"I look forward to leading Securitas into the future and feel fortunate to be a part of a company that can grant customers peace of mind in these difficult times," said Monblatt. "Securitas is a financially secure, stable and debt-free company that possesses the resources and technical capabilities to lead the industry."
Other additions to the management team include Exodus alumni Tim Prukop and Scott Rehling, and former Cisco executive Tom Case.
Adopting a name stemming from a foreign language presented at least one challenge - finding an available domain. All the top-level domain names for "Securitas" were already registered by companies from Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
Not to be deterred, the company is hosting its web site at securitas.bz, using the domain extension from the island nation of Belize.