Kalispell firm may merge with Washington company

The Daily Inter Lake

If shareholders approve, Kalispell-based Auroras Entertainment will merge with Broadstream Communications early this year to create a new company, Avail Media.

Last month, Auroras signed a letter of intent to merge with Broadstream, which is headquartered in Bellevue, Wash.

Auroras deals with Internet-protocol TV, which transmits TV and video signals over broadband networks. Broadstream manages IPTV network services and provides content management platforms.

"The combined strength of the two companies is compelling," Ramu Potarazu, Broadstream's - and Avail's - chief executive officer, said in a news release. "The advanced media services and IPTV marketplace is challenging, both technically and operationally. The companies saw an opportunity to better meet these challenges and deliver a larger breadth of services to our customers."

Broadstream was founded three years ago. Diane Smith and Mike Kazmier founded Auroras in Kalispell around the same time.

Since then, the company has developed technology that will allow rural telephone companies to provide television service. TV is a market that phone companies have tried to break into for years, but astronomical costs have long prevented them from providing affordable video service.

IPTV will allow telephone companies to provide cost-effective video over a broadband network.

Auroras planned to move beyond the developmental stage and launch its product commercially in early 2007. The merger will not affect that launch date.

Following the merger, the company will relocate its headquarters to Washington, D.C., and maintain technology development and sales offices in Kalispell and Bellevue.