March 3, 2004

San Jose broadband service seller Covad Communications Group Inc. said it's buying GoBeam Inc., a privately-held Pleasanton Voice over Internet Protocol company, in an all-stock transaction valued at $48 million and expected to close in May.

GoBeam has more than 13,000 VoIP phones serving business customers in California and in the Chicago area.

VoIP uses a broadband Internet connection to carry local and long-distance voice calls instead of the public telephone network.

GoBeam will retain its own brand and continue to operate its services until mid-year when the transition to Covad has been completed.

Accelerated rollout of VoIP services will require additional investment, and Covad is evaluating how this will affect its plan to be cash-flow positive by mid-2004, the company said.

Story @ San Francisco Business Times