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Touch America Holdings Inc., a former energy utility that last year refashioned itself as a broadband provider, filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, June 20.
"They made the decision to go into the telecommunications business at its peak, and the business imploded, so they lost they their shirt," said James Bellessa, an analyst with D.A. Davidson & Co.
From1998 to 2002, Touch America, formerly called Montana Power Co., sold its energy business for a total of $1 billion, investing much of the funds to build a fiber-optic network. The newly minted telecom ran into trouble as the broadband and technology markets soured.
As part of its bankruptcy filing, the Butte, Mont.-based company said it sold its private line and dedicated...