Paetec Goes Public

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of PAETEC Communications Inc.'s proposal to purchase US LEC of North Carolina involves the personalities and their path to doing business together. Arunas Chesonis, slated to be chairman and CEO of the combined firm, used to work for US LEC principal Richard Aab at ACC Corp., a Rochester company acquired by AT&T Corp.

But there's a bigger story of entrepreneurial connections in telecommunications. Chesonis also worked at Rochester Telephone with Steve Dubnik, who founded Choice One Communications, which recently went private through a series of acquisitions. The company is now known as One Communications.

And there's more. Phil Yawman, also an ACC alumnus, is now CEO of Rocket Broadband Networks, which is targeting telecommunications services to tenants of apartments. Yawman used to work for Dubnik at Choice One.

Other telecom companies with ties to Rochester's telecom past: Fibertech Networks, which builds local area fiber networks, and American Fiber Systems.

Colleague Dave Tyler will be weighing in further on Rochester Tel's family tree in a future issue of the D&C. Stay tuned.