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Access Media 3

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Access Media 3 (“AM3”) is an Internet, television and telephone provider service company based in Oak Brook, Illinois. The company specializes in providing services to multi-dwelling units such as condominiums, apartments, retirement communities and student housing. At present, AM3 serves clients in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, DC.[1] Currently, AM3 serves approximately 50,000 revenue generating units (RGUs) in over 450 properties. AM3 also conducts business as Upstream Network, in an effort to distance itself from the tarnished Access Media 3 branding.[2]

History

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Access Media 3 was founded by CEO Scott Rediger in January 2007 in a merger with MDI Access.[3] Rediger's previous experience in the telecom industry included his role as a co-founder of Ovation Communications, a competitive local exchange carrier business offering facility-based local, long distance, and data services to medium and large sized businesses in the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Milwaukee and Detroit. After two years, Ovation Communications was sold to McLeod USA in 1999 for $402 million. After the sale, Rediger served as a Senior Vice President of Products and Development for McLeod USA.[4]

AM3's business model specifically targeted multi-unit residential buildings as a market for customized bundled media services. The company works directly with property owners, associations and managers to design individualized packages of high-speed internet, voice and television from DIRECTV.[5]

AM3 expanded rapidly through both organic sales growth and strategic acquisitions. Following its initial merger with MDI Access, AM3 acquired:

Financial backing for acquisitions came in part from investment support by private equity concerns Meritage Funds and WP Global Partners,[14] as well as a credit facility relationship with JP Morgan Chase[15] and financing support from Hinsdale Bank and Trust, a Wintrust Community Bank Charter.[16] AM3 also expanded its sales staff to promote organic sales among property managers and owners. As a result, AM3s RGU base rose from approximately 3000 in 2007 to over 50,000 in 2011. In early 2012, AM3 secured $30 Million in funding from ORIX Venture Finance and Petra Capital Partners to fuel continued growth.[17]

Awards

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AM3 and its leadership have received recognition for the company's swift growth, including:

  • Inclusion in the 2011 Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing companies nationally[18]
  • Recognition of Scott Rediger in the Growth category of the 2011 Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards sponsored by the Daily Herald Business Ledger[19]
  • Receipt of the DIRECTV Highest Year-to-Year Growth Award in 2010[20]
  • Appointment of Scott Rediger to DIRECTV's MDU Board of Advisers in 2010[21]
  • Repeated inclusion in the DIRECTV Excel Club Award[22]

Criticism

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Tracking users by injecting javascript in HTML contents

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On January 5, 2014, it was published and documented by a customer, that Access Media 3 is injecting tracking javascript into all HTTP request bodies.[23][24] The tracking was apparently achieved by means of proxy software in the software router, the rXg (Revenue eXtraction Gateway), produced by RG Nets. The purpose of the tracking is yet unknown, but the front page of RG Nets states:

In a brochure, RG Nets state about the rXg box:[25]

the rXg is the perfect platform for clear communication, authoritative control and complete cognizance over your RGN end-user population.:
Contemporary profitable IP RGNs extract revenue from the end-user community through a combination of direct and indirect mechanisms. The classic IP RGN business model that focuses on direct billing of end-users is giving way to hybrid models that employ advertising, user profiling and premium services with automated up-sell.:
Inspecting, recording, analyzing and understanding how end-users consume the available resources as well as how they interact with the offered service levels is a critically important aspect of operating an RGN.:

Around October 2014, Access Media 3 responded to the original author that broke the story admitting to using a Man-in-the-middle attack to insert HTML code into unsecured, non-SSL websites as an "advertising tool".

Many of you have approached me about the pop up residents see when online. I do want to let you know this is an advertising tool. Access Media 3 does not track users’ web activity, collect personally identifiable information, nor sell users’ personal information. Aggregate browsing information may be used to deliver an advertisement that is more tailored to our users’ perceived interests. The application should have no impact on the user experience. Upon further investigation we found that the system was slightly impacting browsing by creating a very small ribbon at the top of the browser. We are working with our developers to identify and correct the case. If you need to share this with your residents please feel free but just wanted you to have the information incase you are asked! Thank you and have a great week![26]

References

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  1. ^ "Access Media 3 Expands Reach to the Southeast". Forbes.com. 7 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09.
  2. ^ "r/VirginiaTech - Former Access Media 3 / Upstream Employee. AMA!". reddit. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  3. ^ Brian Santo (4 January 2007). "New Triple Play Provider Blows Into Windy City". CED Magazine. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Executive Team-Scott Rediger". AM3 official website. 5 February 2012. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012.
  5. ^ "Q&A With Scott Rediger, Access Media 3" (PDF). Broadband Properties Magazine. January–February 2011.
  6. ^ "Access Media 3 Buys Tunnel Vision's Satellite Assets". V2M. 28 September 2007.[dead link‍]
  7. ^ Traci Patterson (29 May 2008). "Access Media 3 Acquires inVision Networks' Operating Assets". CED Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  8. ^ Traci Patterson (2 June 2008). "Access Media 3 Acquires SkyPix". CED Magazine.
  9. ^ "Access Media 3 Acquires Avvid Technologies". Technology Marketing Corp. 13 April 2010.
  10. ^ "Access Media 3 Acquires Cipher". Technology Marketing Corp. 13 April 2010.
  11. ^ "Access Media 3 Acquires MDU Business of onShore Networks". Technology Marketing Corp. 13 April 2010.
  12. ^ "Access Media 3 Completes Merger in South Florida Market". Broadband Properties Magazine. April 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  13. ^ "Access Media 3 Expands Reach to the Southeast". City Biz List--Washington D.C. 6 January 2012.[dead link‍]
  14. ^ "Access Media 3 Secures $10 Million to Continue Aggressive Growth Strategy". AM3 official website. 12 January 2010. Archived from the original on March 17, 2013.
  15. ^ "Access Media 3 Chooses JPMorgan Chase For New Senior Credit Facility". AM3 official website. 30 May 2008. Archived from the original on March 17, 2013.
  16. ^ Wailin Wong (4 March 2011). "Access Media 3 Gets $3 Million Funding". Chicago Tribune.
  17. ^ "Access Media 3 Receives $30M in Funding". Bloomberg, Inc. 8 February 2012.
  18. ^ "Inc. 500 List". Inc. magazine. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  19. ^ "Local Businesspeople Honored for Entrepreneurial Excellence". Daily Herald Business Ledger. 23 September 2011.
  20. ^ "Access Media 3 Receives Highest Year-Over-Year Growth DIRECTV Award". AM3 official website. 19 July 2010. Archived from the original on March 17, 2013.
  21. ^ "Access Media 3 CEO Named to DIRECTV MDU Board of Advisers". Broadband Properties Magazine online edition. March 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  22. ^ "Access Media 3 Receives 3rd Consecutive DirecTV Excel Club Award". AM3 official website. 16 September 2009. Archived from the original on March 17, 2013.
  23. ^ "Reddit". Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  24. ^ "Hayden Lee - Blog - Evidence my ISP may be making money from tracking its customers". 2014-12-24. Archived from the original on 2014-12-24. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  25. ^ "RG Nets brochure" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-03. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
  26. ^ "Imgur". Imgur.
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