TechWeb's Light Reading Communications Network Acquires Pyramid Research, Creating...

TechWeb's Light Reading Communications Network Acquires Pyramid Research,
Creating the Most Comprehensive Provider of Global Research in the $3 Trillion
Communications Market

NEW YORK and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TechWeb's
Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com), the leading
integrated publishing, events and research company serving the global
communications marketplace, today announced that it has acquired Pyramid
Research (www.pyr.com), a market research and advisory service company.
Pyramid analyzes and forecasts demand for communications and media services,
applications, networks and devices in more than 100 countries, with a strong
focus on developing markets, where much of the communication industry's growth
is expected over the next ten years.
Pyramid will be integrated with Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com/),
creating the communications industry's most comprehensive provider of
research. Heavy Reading, the independent market research arm of the Light
Reading Communications Network, offers quantitative analysis of telecom
technology to service providers, vendors and investors.
"According to the US Telecommunications Industry Association, the
worldwide telecom market is expected to grow $900 billion, to $3.9 trillion in
2009 and over 70 percent of that growth will be outside the US," said Tony
Uphoff, Chief Executive Officer, TechWeb. "Although we reach the broad
universe of professionals who build, deploy, manage and finance
next-generation telecom and enterprise networks with online, events and
research, this blockbuster combination of Pyramid and Heavy Reading more than
doubles the size of our research portfolio and positions TechWeb for increased
global growth."
Pyramid, which is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has
offices in Hong Kong, London, Miami and Seattle, collects, aggregates and
analyzes industry data to provide clients with quantitative insights into
current and projected market conditions. It has established a reputation as
an industry leader based on the breadth of its coverage, its time-tested
database and forecasting methodology, and its multilingual analyst team. "We
view this acquisition by TechWeb's Light Reading to be highly advantageous,"
said Daniel Schimmel, President & CEO of Pyramid. "Being part of a much larger
media company will provide Pyramid with the resources and market access to
grow."
From a pure research perspective, the Pyramid and Heavy Reading
combination is very complementary, according to Dennis Mendyk, Managing
Director of Heavy Reading. "Pyramid's 'bottom-up' methodology will complement
and deepen Heavy Reading's existing 'top down' research analysis business,
provide growth opportunities and expand the group's international presence.
Additionally, Heavy Reading's US-based customers will now have a greater
opportunity to access to Pyramid's research and to its team of strategic
analysts."
Beyond the research business, the combination of Light Reading and Pyramid
creates tremendous growth opportunities, according to Joseph Braue, Group
Director and SVP of Light Reading. "Exposure on Light Reading, which is by far
the largest online communications community in the world, will provide an
excellent platform to highlight Pyramid's unique value to the industry and
drive Pyramid's growth. Moreover, Light Reading's expertise as the leading
integrated webinar and research-based event producer in the communications
market will create more formats and avenues for Pyramid content to be
experienced by service providers and communications equipment and software
vendors around the world."
Pyramid's headquarters will remain in Cambridge. Pyramid's Schimmel will
report to Heavy Reading's Mendyk.
About Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com)
For twenty years, Pyramid Research has helped companies in the converging
communications, media and technology industries stay ahead of market trends,
understand competitive threats and capitalize on opportunities. We advise the
world's leading service providers, equipment manufacturers, content providers,
and the financial community on how to implement best practices, build
offensive growth strategies and drive profitability.
About Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com)
Heavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering
quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and
investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis
needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on
next-generation hardware and software. Heavy Reading is part of the Light
Reading Communications Network (http://www.lightreading.com), the ultimate
source for technology and financial analysis of the global communications
industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and
reputation.
About TechWeb (http://techweb.com/aboutus)
TechWeb, the global leader in business technology communities, is an
innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers
and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed
media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million
business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created
around our global face-to-face events including Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat
and VoiceCon; online resources like Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise,
InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and Financial Technology brands; and the
market leading, award-winning InformationWeek Magazine, TechNet Magazine, MSDN
Magazine and Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides
end-to-end services ranging from next-generation performance marketing, custom
media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United
Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist
information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion
* 13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com)
United Business Media Limited is a leading global business media company.
We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events,
online, in print, and with the information they need to do business
successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from
doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewellery traders, from
farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30
countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities,
helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and
efficiently.
Contacts:
Alix Raine Amy Averbook
United Business Media LLC Light Reading
516-562-7827 212-925-0020 ext. 112
araine@ubm-us.com averbook@lightreading.com

SOURCE TechWeb

Alix Raine of United Business Media LLC, +1-516-562-7827, araine@ubm-us.com;
or Amy Averbook of Light Reading, +1-212-925-0020 ext. 112,
averbook@lightreading.com