Birch Completes Acquisition of
Cleartel Assets

Birch completes acquisition of 80,000 access lines, and network assets in S. Fla. This is Birch’s seventh tuck-in acquisition in three years.

Atlanta, GA – August 25, 2009 - Birch Communications announced today it has completed its acquisition of all of the active customers and network assets of Cleartel Communications, Inc. This acquisition includes approximately 80,000 business and residential access lines as well as a state-of-the-art facilities network in Florida.

“Birch welcomes the former Cleartel customers, who also had service under the brand names of Supra Telecom, NII Communications and IDS Telecom,” says Chris Aversano, Birch COO who leads the network, engineering and customer operations organizations. “Birch has worked hard over the last 13 years to establish a strong reputation for excellent customer satisfaction, and we look forward to providing world-class service and award-winning customer support for our newly acquired customers.”

The completion of this acquisition is the seventh major transaction Birch has completed in three years. Birch’s strategy is to significantly increase customer density and expand the reach of its state-of-the-art private IP network though both “tuck-in” acquisitions and organic growth.

“We couldn’t be happier to welcome the former Cleartel customers into our Birch family,” says Vincent M. Oddo, Birch president and CEO. “In addition to our exceptional customer service, these customers will also benefit from a wider selection of voice, broadband and managed IT products and services.”

Birch is the premier alternative to the legacy carriers for small- and medium- sized business customers. This acquisition significantly strengthens and accelerates Birch’s market position as one of the largest competitive communications companies in the United States. The additional customer density and network footprint will also allow Birch to offer its new customers an even wider array of reliable local voice and high speed Internet services, including DSL, ADSL 2+, T-1 and managed IT services, at very affordable prices.

About Birch Communications
Headquartered in Atlanta GA, Birch Communications is one of the largest competitive telecommunications carriers covering 32-states across the nation. Birch is the first in its class to deploy a private IP-Network utilizing soft switch technology to deliver innovative, high quality, affordable voice and broadband communications services to small and medium business customers. Please visit www.birch.com for more information.

Contact:
Greg Corwin, Marketing Director
greg.corwin@birch.com
816.300.1686