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EarthLink on Friday announced that it will acquire the subscriber base and certain wireless infrastructure components of the troubled OmniSky Corporation.
San-Francisco based OmniSky announced that it and its U.S. subsidiaries will file for Chapter-11 protection in the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California in order to bring about the deal.
Pending the approval of the Court, Earthlink hopes to pick up OmniSkys 32,000 subscribers as well as its client software, mobile wireless application platform, browser proxy, mail proxy, and all other components required to continue OmniSkys service.
EarthLink said it is making the move to expand its offerings into the market for wireless handheld devices like the Palm and Pocket PC, and that the purchase would allow it to bring to market a suite of mobile wireless services comparable to OmniSkys much more quickly and cheaply than if it had to start from scratch.
“Our purchase of OmniSkys subscriber base and key network assets will represent a significant advancement in our companys mobile wireless strategy— well beyond our projected first-year goals for EarthLink Everywhere,” said Lance Weatherby, executive vice president of the ISPs EarthLink Everywhere initiative.
OmniSky said it expects to continue to operate and provide its subscribers with service during the sale approval process.