Thread by @nimkef

Early 1990's
Joffe launched Internet Media Network (IMN), a division of American Computer Group (ACG)

1996
In partnership w/ Bechtel Enterprises, IMN was renamed Genuity, which would become one of the largest ISP Data Center Operators in the world

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BECHTEL ACQUIRES INTERNET COMPANY

Bechtel Enterprises, Inc. has purchased a majority interest in Genuity Inc., a company that provides Internet services for medium-to-large-sized organizations in business, government, and higher education.

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Genuity, formerly known as Internet Media Network, is headquartered in San Francisco, with its network operations center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Genuity's information infrastructure allows businesses and other institutions to use the Internet to its fullest potential, providing access through an exclusive, digital network connection or through a local phone call.

The company monitors the network continuously, ensuring the highest availability, reliability, and security.

Bechtel Enterprises is the development, financing, and ownership affiliate of the Bechtel Group, Inc.

16 Dec 1996

Genuity opened a nonprofit network-access point for ISPs in Phoenix

"If the telcos and [the Baby Bells] won't build the infrastructure for us, we'll build it & provide it for free as long as the cost model works," Rodney Joffe, Genuity's CTO

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That "cost model" is simply the freedom from access charges approaching $5k/mo for each ISP. Genuity's new NAP routes network traffic between customers in the Phoenix area who use different service providers, lowering the access providers' costs.

Up to now, the network, maintained by Arizona State University, has routed Internet traffic out to the national access points at MAE West and East, in San Jose and Washington, DC, respectively, even if both recipient and sender were in Arizona.

Local/regional NAP's are nothing new, but the nonprofit model is new, and Genuity hopes to duplicate it across the country. Customers will see better Internet service with less waiting and downtime. Joffe wants to set an example for the telcos to follow.

Joffe sees a ready soapbox in the oversight efforts by telcos such as MFS Telecom of the old NFSNet. The "big telephone companies" such as MFS are not moving fast enough to keep pace with the mushrooming growth of the Internet, he said.

"They should be building more [access points], not asking for more money," said Joffe, whose own company is a subsidiary of Bechtel.

While Joffe seemed comfortable positioning Genuity as David going up against the Goliath telcos, for its part, MFS welcomed the effort.

Despite the largess of MFS, regional and local access points have cropped up in the Washington, DC, area to fill a need MFS cannot, said Bob Barbour, MFS director of marketing.

MFS has seen its eastern access point, which sees roughly 63% of the nation's Internet traffic, grow exponentially and continue to attract some of the largest Internet service providers - a fact Barbour attributed to his company's quick attention to maintenance of the network.

13 Nov 1997

GTE Internetworking, a subsidiary of GTE Corp., today announced that it will acquire Genuity Inc., a subsidiary of Bechtel Enterprises. The terms were not disclosed. The acquisition will be completed through GTE's affiliate, BBN Corporation.

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BBN was incorporated as a Massachusetts corporation in 1953, under the name Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., as the successor to a partnership
formed in 1948.

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1997
GTE acquired BBN Corporation, and by combining BBN with GTE's existing Internet services business, formed GTE Internetworking.

July 1998
Bell Atlantic and GTE agreed to a merger of equals transaction

6 April 2000
Changed name from GTE Internetworking Incorporated to Genuity Inc.

30 June 2000
GTE and Bell Atlantic closed their merger and commenced doing business as Verizon Communications ("Verizon")

25 July 2002

Verizon said it won't reacquire Genuity Inc.

FCC required Verizon to spin off Genuity as part of the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. Verizon said in a statement that it's no longer obligated to provide Genuity with further loans.

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Genuity said in a statement that Verizon's decision was "unexpected & a disappointment." As a result, it was in default of its credit agreements w/ Verizon and a consortium of banks. Genuity said it's in talks with Verizon and the banks to review the impact of Verizon's decision

Genuity said on July 22 that it asked the consortium of banks, which had provided the company with a $2B line of credit, to fund the remaining $850M.

To date, Genuity said, it has received approximately $723M, bringing its cash on hand to $1.3B. Genuity said Deutsche Bank was the only member of the consortium of 9 banks that hadn't fulfilled its funding obligation. Genuity said it has taken legal action against Deutsche Bank

Verizon said it would support Genuity's negotiations with the banks. Verizon also said it would continue its commercial relationship with Genuity, including its 5-year agreement to purchase its services, and plans to continue selling Genuity's IP networking services to businesses

28 Nov 2002

Level 3 is to buy Internet hosting and IP networking company Genuity for $242M cash.

Genuity will go into voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection ahead of completion of the deal in the first quarter of 2003.

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Genuity's operations have been main hubs over the years for the development of the Internet and the company has gone through several owners and names (BBN -> GTE Internetworking -> Genuity) after it was spun off because of regulatory concerns relating to the formation of Verizon

Although it has invested heavily in a global IP fibre network, Level 3 remains cash-rich. This year Berkshire Hathaway, the investment vehicle of Warren Buffet, known for avoiding tech stocks, placed its faith in Level 3 by buying a $100M stake. Other funds took $400M of holdings