Birch Communications was an American provider of
IP-based communications, network
broadband
In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...
,
cloud computing
Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...
, and
information technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
services to small, mid-sized, enterprise and wholesale business customers in the United States,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
.
[ It was acquired by Fusion Connect in 2018 and integrated into the company. 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.] Birch Communications raised $77.5 million in funding in 2011, and $110 million in funding in 2012 after it financed a new $90 million facility.
''Atlanta Business Chronicle
The ''Atlanta Business Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper covering business news in Atlanta, Georgia, published by American City Business Journals. The paper has both a weekly print edition and an online edition.
History
The ''Atlanta Business ...
'' named Birch one of Atlanta's Top 50 Private Companies in 2013, and that year company revenues were approximately $207 million. Birch Communications also acquired Cbeyond in 2014 for $323 million,[ which expanded Birch’s ]cloud
In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...
service offerings.[ In September 2014, Birch announced that they had made 24 acquisitions, worth more than $500 million.][ Birch has regional operations centers in Atlanta, ]Macon, Georgia
Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...
and Emporia, Kansas
Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka, Kansas, Topeka and Wichita, Kansas, Wichita ...
[ with approximately 1,400 employees.][ Tony Tomae serves as Birch’s president and ]chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
.[
]
History
Founding as Access Integrated Networks (1996–1999)
Birch was founded in 1996 as Access Integrated Networks by Thomas Wright and partners.[ Initially the headquarters of the IT service provider were located in ]Macon, Georgia
Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...
,[ near ]Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. 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."[ Using a ]business model
A business model describes how a Company, business organization creates, delivers, and captures value creation, value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-pub ...
developed by its founders such as Thomas Wright, the company used a different funding model than many other competitive local exchange carrier
A competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) is a North American telecommunications provider classification that emerged based on the competition model of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in the United States. The act required the previously esta ...
s[ in that they weren't reliant on venture capitalists.][ By 1997, the company had a client base of around 100.]
Early acquisitions (2000–2007)
In 2001, the company's founders began funding acquisitions with their own bank accounts and company profits.[ By 2002, Access Integrated Networks was serving nine states and had annual revenue of $40 million.][ Oddo became president and CEO in 2003, also retaining a role as one of three ]shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...
s.[ Oddo previously had served as chief information officer and president of Graphic Scanning, which had been acquired by Bell South in 1992,] and had also served executive roles at NuVox Communications and Network Telephone. In 2003, Oddo "implemented a major shift in business strategy," and focused on building out the size of the company's IP network
The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suite are ...
through acquisitions.[
In November 2005,][ Access Integrated Networks acquired customers from ]Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
-based Cinergy Communications.[ Access then acquired 43,000 local access lines from Trinsic Communications][ in November 2006,][ a ]Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
-based provider of local and long distance telephone services. At the same time, Access also assumed Sprint Local assets.[ In 2006, Access had annual revenues of around $70 million.][ Access purchased local, long-distance residential and SMB customers in ]Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
and Georgia from IDT Telecom in April 2007.[ By later that year, Access was serving nine states in the southeast and had 215 employees.][ Its business involved 75 percent reselling the services of companies such as ]AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
, 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.[
]
Merger and expansion (2007–2010)
Access Integrated Networks started the acquisition of Birch Telecom in November 2007.[ Birch was a large telecom company][ in ]Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
[ which had recently survived two bankruptcies.][ Though undergoing financial difficulties, Birch provided voice and internet services to customers in 26 states.] The final transaction took place for an undisclosed sum in February 2008,[ with the new combined annual revenue of the companies reaching $200 million. Together, combined employees equaled 400,] and combined voice and data lines equaled 300,000.[ Vincent Oddo retained his role as president and CEO of Access, with no layoffs announced as part of the merger.][ Access Integrated Networks rechristened the integrated company as Birch Communications] on July 1, 2008,[ with headquarters remaining in Atlanta.][ Birch Telecom's operations in Kansas City, ]Emporia, Kansas
Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka, Kansas, Topeka and Wichita, Kansas, Wichita ...
, Macon, and Atlanta remained intact.
In late 2008,[ Birch Communications Inc.][ purchased approximately 30,000 business access lines from ]North Little Rock, Arkansas
North Little Rock (often abbreviated "NLR") is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States. Located on the north side of the Arkansas River, it is the Twin cities, twin city of Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock. In the late nineteenth ce ...
-based Navigator Telecommunications for an undisclosed sum.[ The acquisition increased consumer density for Birch in existing markets and allowed it to expand into ]California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
.[ With the acquisition, Birch increased its market presence to 31 states,][ with around 325,000 access lines.][ The acquisition of Cleartel Communications in August 2009][ added around 100,000 business and residential sites to Birch’s customer base as well as facilities in Florida.][ Birch finalized a purchase of Freedom Communications USA's assets in October 2010.][ In December 2010, Birch then finished the acquisition of][ assets from American Fiber Network][ and CloseCall America.][ The acquisitions added 60,000 access lines to Birch’s customer base of 300,000 and expanded Birch’s operations to 38 states.][
]
Growth intro Florida, new funding (2011–2012)
In April 2011, Birch acquired Acutel assets,[ a company which is based in ]Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. Birch Communications finished a $77.5 million funding round in June 2011. 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 perationalcosts. We run a tight ship."[ In October 2011,][ 56,000 business and residential access lines in the ]Orlando, Florida
Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
area were added to Birch's network, with the acquisition of Cordia Communications for $8 million.[ The acquisition was financed in part from the funding round that summer.] 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."[
By January 2012, Birch maintained IP-based communications in 38 states.] 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. Birch continued its expansion into Florida when it acquired the operating assets of AstroTel[ in April 2012.][ The assets included an IP network spanning the Tampa Bay, Florida area][ and was Birch’s fourteenth acquisition since 2006.][ Birch acquired the assets of dpiTeleconnect in May 2012.][ In June 2012, CIT Vendor Finance awarded Birch a $7.5 million equipment financing deal.] 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. Birch purchased Port Charlotte, Florida-based DayStar Communications in October 2012.[ The deal expanded Birch’s small and medium business customer base in southwest Florida and other parts of the southeastern United States.][
]
Covista acquisition (2013)
Birch Carrier Solutions, the wholesale
Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
division of Birch Communications, Inc., expanded throughout 2013. That year, wholesale clients such as Belgacom and Primus Telecommunications were added to their client portfolio. In February 2013, CoBank committed around $12 million to Birch's operations, becoming a part of Birch's Senior Secured Credit Facility Syndication Group. Birch continued its “tuck in” acquisition strategy with its March 2013 acquisition of Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
-based Covista Communications.[ The strategy targeted companies that would increase customer density and expand Birch’s network near existing markets.] Covista Communications was a facilities-based telecommunications service provider with business and residential customers in 48 states, and large switching centers in Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
and New York. The acquisition expanded Birch's network by ten states, bringing its total number covered to 45.[
In May 2013,][ Birch acquired ]Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
-based Lightyear Network Solutions for $22 million.[ The acquisition allowed Birch to expand its Birch IP-Network service to 11 states.][ In August 2013, Birch acquired ]Norcross, Georgia
Norcross is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, about 15 miles northeast of Atlanta city limits. According to the 2010 census, the population was 9,116, while in 2020, the population increased to 17,209. Norcross is part of the Atlanta metropol ...
-based Ernest Communications.[ Ernest had been a major wholesale customer of Birch, and the acquisition expanded Birch’s operations to all 50 American states, ]Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, and Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.[ 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.][ Company revenues in 2013 totaled approximately $207 million.] ''Atlanta Business Chronicle
The ''Atlanta Business Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper covering business news in Atlanta, Georgia, published by American City Business Journals. The paper has both a weekly print edition and an online edition.
History
The ''Atlanta Business ...
'' named Birch one of Atlanta's Top 50 Private Companies in October 2013, as ranked by company-wide revenue.
Cbeyond acquisition (2014)
Birch acquired customers from Liberty-Bell Telecom in June 2014, a subsidiary of DishNet.[ The acquisition expanded Birch’s customer base in the ]Denver, Colorado
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
area.[ Later that month, Birch acquired Louisiana-based EveryCall.][ Birch Communications also acquired Atlanta-based Cbeyond in July 2014] for $323 million. Following the purchase, Cbeyond was delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange and its operations were folded into Birch.[ The acquisition marked a change in Birch’s service portfolio and expanded Birch’s ]cloud
In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...
service offerings.[ The same month Birch acquired ]Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
-based Selectel Communications, its 20th acquisition since 2006.[
In September 2014, Birch announced that they undergone 24 acquisitions overall, worth more than $500 million.][ In November 2014 Birch challenged in federal court a ]DMCA
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
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 also alleged that Rightscorp was trying to exploit a lack of knowledge among smaller regional ISPs that DMCA subpoenas are not applicable to peer-to-peer file sharing
Peer-to-peer file sharing is the distribution and sharing of digital media using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology. P2P file sharing allows users to access media files such as books, music, movies, and games using a P2P software program th ...
. In December 2014, Birch opened a new sales office in Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
.[ Birch had 1,400 overall employees at the time.][
]
Recent developments (2015–2017)
In January 2015, Birch announced an expansion of its office in Emporia, Kansas
Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka, Kansas, Topeka and Wichita, Kansas, Wichita ...
. In February that same year, Birch launched a fiber-based network expansion in Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
Also that month, BenchmarkPortal awarded Birch their Center of Excellence award for customer service
Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those who buy or use its products or services, either in person or remotely. Customer service is often practiced in a way that reflects the strategies and values of a firm, and ...
for the third consecutive year. In April 2015, Birch began expanding Metro-Fiber in Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, and Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. As a result, at the time Birch served 686 buildings nationwide with its fiber network, also reaching around 20,000 businesses with ethernet
Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...
and voice services.
In May 2015, a federal judge ruled Birch would not be required to release customer information despite a subpoena issued by Rightscorp in regard to copyright infringement issues. 5Linx sold its telecommunications branch to Birch Communications, also in May 2015,[ and the following month Birch acquired the customer assets of OrbitCom, Inc., a voice a data solutions provider.][ In August 2015, Birch Communications was named one of the 2015 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America by '' Inc. Magazine'', ranking No. 2,563 with a three-year growth rate of 143%. It was the sixth time that Birch ranked on the list, following 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.]
Birch acquired Primus Telecommunications Canada, a large telecom reseller, in January 2016. Based in Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Canada, Primus added around 200,000 residential customers and 23,000 business clients in Canada, as well as residential customers in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Acquisition by Fusion
On May 7, 2018 Fusion Connect Inc. closed the acquisition of Birch Communications Holdings, Inc. The transaction carried a total enterprise value of approximately $600 million, consisting of approximately 50 million shares of Fusion common stock and the refinancing of $444 million of Birch indebtedness. The combined entity will own about 31,000 route miles of fiber optic cabling.
On June 15, 2019, Fusion filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
. The company emerged from bankruptcy on January 14, 2020.
Products and services
Focusing on both residential and business clients, Birch Communications offers services such as "local and long distance voice, broadband Internet
In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide- bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Internet access. The transmission m ...
access, T1, PRI, bonded T1, mobile voice and data
Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...
, e-mail
Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...
, voicemail," and prepaid phone services in each state, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
. Birch offers DSL
Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...
and fiber internet connections, as well as BirchLink, a business-grade internet. Other Birch product brand names include BirchCloud, BirchVoice, BirchNetwork, BirchMobile, and BirchIT Services. BirchCloud offers TotalCloud PBX, a cloud
In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...
based phone. The company also introduced a new BYOD program, allowing customers to use their own SIP-compliant handset devices with its TotalCloud PBX offering. Rather than through the public internet, Birch voice and data services are typically delivered using VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...
technology on the company's own IP-Network.[
]
Facilities and staff
As of 2016, the company has regional operations centers in the Georgia cities of Atlanta and Macon, as well as Emporia, Kansas
Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka, Kansas, Topeka and Wichita, Kansas, Wichita ...
. There are six main data centers throughout the United States, and Birch connects to 400,000 fiber-lit buildings with 31,000 fiber route miles. Birch had 1,400 employees in 2014,[ with around 450 people working out of the company's Atlanta Operations Center as of 2016.]
Community involvement
Birch has been involved in various philanthropic efforts and community projects, including donating toys and funds to the non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
Kids Yule Love in 2011, co-sponsoring the International Cherry Blossom Festival in 2013, and donating funds to Atlanta's Woodruff Arts Center in 2014. Birch invested in Macon Charter Academy in August 2015, donating funds, computer equipment, and furniture to the Georgia charter school
A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...
and serving as a technology consultant during construction. In February 2016, Birch donated PCs and laptops to the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless to be used for job-training at the Peachtree-Pine shelter.
Acquisition timeline
The following is an incomplete timeline of major acquisitions by Birch Communications:
See also
* Economy of Atlanta
*Competitive local exchange carrier
A competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) is a North American telecommunications provider classification that emerged based on the competition model of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in the United States. The act required the previously esta ...
*List of telephone operating companies
This list identifies the largest telecommunications companies by total revenue. For a more thorough list, see the By region section.
By total revenue
''Note: Numbers of total revenues of most telephone operating companies are sourced from Fo ...
* List of United States telephone companies
References
External links
Birch.com
{{United States telephone companies
Defunct telecommunications companies of the United States
Defunct companies based in Georgia (U.S. state)
Companies disestablished in 2018
Companies based in Atlanta
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019
1996 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
American companies established in 1996
Telecommunications companies established in 1996