Netifice moves beyond VPN with Epoch buy

Netifice Communications today announced it has bought the Epoch Networks, one of the country’s largest privately owned Internet access providers. Epoch’s Tier 1 optical network and peering agreements give Netifice a sizable network core, allowing it to expand beyond its bread-and-butter managed VPN services to offer public and private IP transport services such as IP video and voice.

Netifice president and CEO Stephen Schilling said the all-stock deal closed earlier this year, and the two companies are in the final phases of integrating their management and networks. Both are privately owned companies so no further financial details of the deal were revealed.

“We think this creates the largest company in the VPN space,” Schilling said. “We now have the most advanced technologies, and we’ve not only expanded our markets but also our reach within our current markets.”

Epoch’s optical IP backbone uses multiprotocol label switching to offer video and voice as well as expanded quality-of-service options over a wide range of access options. Netifice is now able to offer its VPN and expanded services over T-1, T-3, OC-3 and OC-12 links in addition to remote access dial-up, cable modem or DSL lines. Through redundant peering with the public Internet backbone, Epoch’s network increases Netifice’s performance and availability, Schilling said.