Internet America was an

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...

that operated in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. In 2015, it was acquired by JAB Broadband and folded into Rise Broadband.

History

The company was founded in 1995 by Robert Maynard Jr. On December 11, 1998, the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

. Its stock rose 14.4% on its first day of trading. In February 1999, the company acquired Compunet for approximately $2 million. The company also acquired CyberRamp. In July 1999, the company acquired NeoSoft for $7.3 million in cash. In August 1999, the company acquired INTX.Networking LLC from founder

Sardar Biglari Sardar Biglari ( fa, سردار بیگلری; born August 30, 1977) is an American entrepreneur and is the founder, chairman and CEO of Biglari Holdings,

. In September 1999, the company acquired PDQ.net for stock worth $32 million. The combined company had 145,000 subscribers. In December 1999, during the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...

, the company's stock doubled in value in a single day with no specific news. On August 14, 2001, the company's shares were

delisted In corporate finance, a listing refers to the company's shares being on the list (or board) of stock that are officially traded on a stock exchange. Some stock exchanges allow shares of a foreign company to be listed and may allow dual listing, su ...

from the NASDAQ. In 2003, the company reduced its headcount from 109 to 70 and also reduced its occupied office space. In November 2004, the company acquired My Linux ISP. In October 2005, Glen Blackmon was named president and chief operating officer of the company. In January 2006, the company acquired 2Fast Communications. In 2006, the company moved its headquarters from Dallas to Houston. On December 26, 2006, Glen Blackmon resigned. In November 2008, the company announced a merger with KeyOn Communications Holdings. However, in February 2009, the merger was terminated. In June 2009, the company named Mark White, former Governor of Texas, as the special counsel for development of broadband networks in rural areas. In 2015, the company was acquired by JAB Broadband and folded into Rise Broadband.

References

{{Dot-com Bubble 1995 establishments in Texas 1998 initial public offerings 2015 mergers and acquisitions Defunct online companies of the United States Dot-com bubble