PAETEC Holding Corporation was a FORTUNE 1000 telecommunications company headquartered in Perinton, New York, United States. It was founded as the private company PaeTec Communications, Inc. in 1998 by Arunas A. Chesonis. In 2007 it merged with US LEC and then Cavalier Telephone Company and became a publicly traded company, and in 2011 it was acquired by Windstream Communications.
PAETEC provided local and long-distance voice services, data and Internet services, and software applications, among others. PAETEC provided service to medium and large businesses, colleges and universities, hospitals, hotels, governmental organizations and other institutions within its service area.
Awards and recognition
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PAETEC was the recipient of various local and national business awards.
- 2010 Frost & Sullivan Customer Value Enhancement Award for VoIP and SIP Trunking Products
- 2010 Named to FORTUNE 1000 list of America's largest companies
- 2009 #9 Best Large Company to Work for in New York
- 2008 #10 Best Large Company to Work for in New York
- 2006 Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) Best-in-Class Service Partner Award from telecom researchers Atlantic-ACM
- 2006 philanthropy award for Outstanding Corporation from the Genesee Valley Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (Rochester, NY)
- 2005 American Business Ethics Award for a mid-sized company
- Ranked #2 on the 2003 Deloitte Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in North America. Rankings were based on average percentage revenue growth over five years, from 1998 - 2002. PAETEC grew 192% percent during this period.
Mergers and acquisitions
- September 9, 1999 - Purchased CAMPUSLINK Communications Systems, a privately owned telecommunications company based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
- August 19, 2004 - Purchased Covista North East Call Zone (Covista Still Privately owned company, also operating as Total Tel)
- January 4, 2005 - Purchased American Long Lines, a privately owned telecommunications company.
- February 28, 2007 - Acquired Charlotte, NC based telecommunications company US LEC, becoming the publicly traded PAETEC Holding Corp
- October 12, 2007 - Acquired Allworx Corp
- February 8, 2008 - Acquired McLeodUSA
- December 6, 2010 - Acquired Cavalier Telephone Corporation
- December 28, 2010 - Acquired FTS Ltd. subsidiary, Leap RevChain
- May 31, 2011 - Acquired XETA Technologies, Inc.
- December 1, 2011 - Acquired by Windstream Communications
PAETEC owned the naming rights to PAETEC Park, a soccer-specific stadium in nearby Rochester, New York, from its opening in 2006 to 2008.
Name origin
The name PAETEC was derived from the initials of the first names of its founder's wife Pam and four children Adam, Erik, Tessa and Emma. In earlier days, the name was displayed as PaeTec Communications, Inc. After the acquisition of US LEC, the new merged entity became PAETEC Holding Corp., however, the company is simply referred to as PAETEC.
Controversy
Since its acquisition, PAETEC has been listed several times as the provider of VOIP services to phone scammers.
Other
- October 16, 2007 - New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer and PAETEC CEO Arunas Chesonis announced plans to tear down Rochester's Midtown Plaza, to build a new corporate headquarters. These plans have since been canceled.
- PAETEC sponsored Rochester Institute of Technology's Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival on May 3, 2008.
References
External links
- Official website
