Today in Philly Tech History 3/1/2001; Bala Cynwyd-based Digital Access Inc., after blowing through $450 million, shuts down

On March 1, 2001, Bala Cynwyd-based Digital Access Inc., having spent $450 million trying to build a broadband competitor to companies such as Comcast, announced it could not raise more needed cash and was shutting down. It was trying to raise another $900 million in debt to finance its buildout, but couldn't find it in the environment that followed the Internet bubble meltdown.

Digital Access was planning to enter the Indianapolis, Kansas City and Milwaukee markets. It cited market conditions, as well as regulatory delays that slowed down it down, as major factors, but in fact the opportunity for major independent residential broadband competitors to the established cable operators to get off the ground was coming to an end. Investors in Digital Access included Goldman Sachs, Navis Partners and Bachow & Associates.



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