A fast-growing Arizona provider of telecom and IT brokerage services is betting its recent expansion into Irvine could double business in the next 18 months.
Chief Executive Ted Schuman, who launched Scottsdale-based PlanetOne Communications Inc. in 1992, has long targeted the Southern California market for growth. The company has more than 700 commercial clients in the state that use its consulting and research service to find better deals on equipment, software, infrastructure and communications-related products.
“I wanted to be in this market three or four years ago, but it was more a timing issue,” Schuman said. “With the maturation of the business and technology, it was really time to establish a presence here. I just decided to pull the trigger.”
PlanetOne, which took office space at the Epicor building near John Wayne Airport, is winding down its best year on record, when revenue increased about 40% over last year. The company has strung together several consecutive years of double-digit growth as it nears $200 million in annual revenue.
It represents more than 185 telecom, Internet, and cloud service providers, among others, that pay PlanetOne a commission based on the products and services they sell to other companies.
Schuman said the company has already identified 100 potential partners in Orange and Los Angeles counties.
“We really sit in the middle as a high-tech matchmaker,” he said.
PlanetOne concluded its last roadshow event of the year on Dec. 10 at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach, hosting more than 80 telecom executives for daylong panels and networking meetings.
Feds Probe TTM Buy
Costa Mesa-based TTM Technologies Inc.’s blockbuster $927 million takeover of rival Viasystems Group Inc. is getting a close examination from federal regulators.
The Federal Trade Commission recently sent a second request to the printed circuit board maker and the St. Louis manufacturer for “additional information and documentary material” related to the planned acquisition.
The request grants TTM and Viasystems an additional 30 days to comply with FTC requirements as they await approval from several global regulators, including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China.
The marriage of TTM and Viasytems would create by far the largest printed circuit board maker in the U.S. and among the biggest in the world.
VR Content Debuts
Laguna Beach startup NextVR has released its first content for the Samsung Gear VR Headset powered by Oculus VR Inc. in Irvine.
A concert clip of rock band Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars” song is available for free on NextVR’s app, viewed through Samsung’s Note 4 smartphone, which locks into the headset.
The entire footage of Coldplay’s Ghost Stories album Virtual Reality Concert Experience was shot over the summer in London, placing the viewer on stage with the band. The company plans to release the entire concert in the coming months and is in talks with Coldplay on other projects. The Business Journal
got a sneak peak of the breakthrough content
a few months ago on a visit to the company’s headquarters, which is steps from the beach.
NextVR has raised $5 million from private investors in the U.S., Hong Kong and China. Facebook Inc. acquired Oculus in July for $2 billion.
