Broadweave Networks announced a plan Friday to acquire Veracity Communications, one of Utah’s largest voice and data services providers. Under the terms of the agreement, Broadweave and Veracity will merge company operations.  The announcement came just one week after Broadweave made a $40.6 million deal to purchase the iProvo fiber optic network.

 “When we initially made the decision to purchase the iProvo network, we quickly discovered that the network was not reaching its true potential for achieving a high take rate among business customers,” said Steve Christensen, Broadweave’s CEO. “Veracity offers skills and abilities that will prove integral to the long-term success of our company.  They’ve done a terrific job of selling and delivering quality services to businesses in Utah.”

“With Broadweave’s acquisition of the iProvo network and their commitment to invest in network upgrades, together we will be able offer residents and businesses a first class network delivering unsurpassed services,” added Drew Peterson, Veracity’s CEO. With the acquisition, Peterson will become Broadweave’s chief sales officer. Veracity owner Kevin Mayberry will become a member of Broadweave's board of directors.

Veracity currently serves approximately 3,000 business customers, including Brigham Young University, RC Willey and Mountain America Credit Union.  Veracity is one of the few iProvo services to have a positive cash flow and has achieved a 200 percent annual growth rate since its inception in 1989.

Christensen also announced Friday that Broadweave has reached separate agreements with Mstar Metro and Nuvont Communications, allowing Broadweave to serve Nuvont and Mstar’s Provo-based customers. The transition of customers will coincide with Broadweave’s acquisition of iProvo, which is slated for July 1, 2008.

“Throughout the transition period to Broadweave, Mstar’s customers in Provo should expect the same quality of service and support they have grown accustomed to,” said Kirk Tanner, Mstar Vice President.  “We will continue selling, servicing, and supporting our customers on the Utopia network as well as our long standing dial-up and DSL customers.”

According to Christensen, the acquisition of Veracity and the agreements with Mstar and Nuvont will allow Broadweave to compete with the likes of Qwest and Comcast. “This is a big step to maximizing our goal which is to have an unsurpassed service level to our customers,” Christensen said. “We’ll now be able to service the customer end-to-end and not have to have another provider in between…It will allow us to remain competitive in the marketplace with other service providers.”