India's Reliance Acquire Yipes

India's Reliance Communications will acquire Yipes Holdings, a leading provider of managed Ethernet services in the U.S., in an all-cash transaction valued at US$300 million. This constitutes Reliance Communications largest acquisition to date. Yipes will operate as a strategic business unit integrated within FLAG Telecom, the global undersea fiber network owned by Reliance.



Yipes, which is based in San Francisco, has a strategic network presence in the top 14 U.S. metros. The company claims nearly 1,000 enterprise customers.



Reliance describes the acquisition of Yipes as a key step in its plan to move up the value chain and closer to its customers in the Global Data business. It significantly increases Reliance's revenues from the enterprise segment internationally.



"The acquisition of Yipes will place Reliance Communications among the top three Global Ethernet service providers in the world. Reliance Communications with FLAG has a strong foothold in India, the Middle East and Asia, including China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. We plan to leverage the significant headstart of Yipes in Ethernet services, double the coverage in the US domestic market, and rollout Yipes services over the FLAG Global Network. We are fully committed to bringing Ethernet services to nearly 40 new countries," commented Punit Garg, President, Global Business, Reliance Communications.











Video Interview: Yipes -- Keao Caindec on Why Managed Ethernet Services are Hot



Key Questions Covered:



Why is Metro Ethernet hot?


What is the primary driver for Metro Ethernet?



The Menu of Ethernet Services



What types of Ethernet services are currently available?



The Yipes Network



The physical topology and key elements of the Yipes Network



Dark Fiber Trends


Is the availability of dark fiber a key factor for the business?



Key Technology Suppliers


Who are your key technology suppliers and what technical advantage do they provide?



Competition


How do you compete against ILECs?



Multicast Applications


How is multicasting used in an Ethernet service deployment?



MPLS vs. Ethernet


Why choose an Ethernet service over an MPLS-based VPN?



Network Architecture Issues


Is Yipes considering the use of PBT or T-MPLS as a network architecture?



A Need for 100G?


Does Yipes see a need to upgrade to 100 Gig Ethernet?



Coming Service Innovations


How will Ethernet continue to evolve at Yipes?



Yipes' Growth and Strategic Vision


How big is Yipes? Is an IPO coming soon? What is the company's long term vision?http://www.reliancecommunications.co.inhttp://www.yipes.com