Cedar Point: We're Not Losing Customers

Telephony software and equipment vendor Cedar Point Communications issued a statement Monday asserting that it is growing revenue and gaining new customers, contradicting the characterization by industry observers cited in a Multichannel News article that the company is struggling.

According to industry sources, Genband has been in active discussions to acquire Cedar Point. In an article Friday, Multichannel News quoted an executive familiar with both companies as saying "Cedar Point has been struggling -- they have absolutely seen their customers leave for different vendors." The impression that Cedar Point has been losing ground was shared by three other sources.

However, in a statement, Cedar Point president and CEO J.C. Murphy said, "Cedar Point has never lost a customer, and in fact has experienced growth in its customer base through competitive wins with services providers such as Kabel Deutschland and Multimedia Polska -- all of which have opted for Cedar Point solutions as replacements for existing platforms."

Murphy did not address the question of whether Cedar Point is in discussions with Genband about a potential takeover other than to note that Cedar Point "does not comment on reports of the company as a merger partner, an acquirer or an acquisition."

While RCN in November 2006 announced an agreement with Cedar Point to deploy the Safari C3 switch for voice-over-IP services, Cedar Point never referred to the cable overbuilder as a customer given that RCN had engaged only in a test of the switch. An RCN representative confirmed Monday that its agreement with Cedar Point "was cancelled and [RCN] subsequently went with Metaswitch [Networks]."

According to Cedar Point, the privately held company has expanded its business in the U.S. and overseas "via increased activity in the commercial services market, acquisition of new customers and growth within announced and unannounced existing customers, including Telecentro, NetCologne, Flow, MetroCast and others."

Cedar Point has consistently grown revenue and lines shipped over the past several years, the Derry, N.H.-based company said. Most recently, Cedar Point has said that its switch has been deployed to support more than 6.5 million lines with service providers worldwide.