July 23, 2002 --Memphis Networx announced today that it has raised an additional $12 million in capital to fund its local network operations and expansion in Memphis, Tennessee. The latest round, led by Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW), brings the total raised by Memphis Networx to more than $37 million. The company's financing comes from a unique combination of public and private funding from investors such as MLGW; Memphis Broadband, LLC, a group of private investors, which includes Fred Smith, chief executive officer of Federal Express and J.R. "Pitt" Hyde, founder and former chairman of AutoZone, Inc., and other local investors.
In June, Memphis Networx announced that it had completed the laying of a fiber network circling Memphis and Shelby County ahead of schedule and under budget. The Memphis Networx fiber network provides optical connectivity for service providers, large enterprises connecting remote facilities, and traditional long-distance carriers. The network enables companies to launch a wide variety of broadband intensive applications that had not been feasible in the service area.
"With our fiber in place, we are now firmly focused on customer attraction," says Mark Ivie, chief executive officer of Memphis Networx (Memphis, TN). "Our network brings choice to the city when it comes to carrier options. Choice is always good for consumers. And, with access that reaches an unprecedented more than 40 percent of class A commercial office space in the city, we have the reach and flexibility providers in other cities can only dream about offering in their markets."
"We believe in this project and we also believe this is the right time and right team for an opportunity like this to be developed in Memphis," says Larry Thompson, chief operating officer, MLGW. "Industry researchers have pointed out that the demand for capacity is holding steady or increasing, particularly in tier 2 and tier 3 metro markets. Memphis Networx is in position to take full advantage of that capacity demand."
For more information, visit the Memphis Networx Web site, www.memphisnetworx.com.