ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Tower Cloud Inc., a company selling backhaul services to wireless carriers, has raised $20 million round from a new investor group led by telecom entrepreneur Cam Lanier and return backers El Dorado Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to expand into Atlanta and other areas.

The new investor group includes Ballast Point Ventures, Kinetic Ventures, Knology Inc., ITC Partners Fund, Noro-Moseley Partners, and The Burton Partnership.

Wireless backhaul refers to wireless communications systems that carry data from an end user to a node in a major network such as the Internet or the proprietary network of a large business, academic institution or government agency. It can also refer to transmitting network data over an alternative wireless route when the normal one is not available or is over burdened.

“Wireless backhaul is one of the fastest growing areas in telecom. We feel the company is strongly positioned to serve the exploding bandwidth needs of wireless carriers.” said Cam Lanier, chairman of ITC Holding Company.

“Demand for wireless broadband service on cellular networks is expanding rapidly, driven by growing popularity of cellular smartphones and other advanced mobile wireless devices. As wireless carriers upgrade their cellular networks to provide 4G wireless data and Internet services their need for broadband backhaul service will continue to accelerate.”

Tower Cloud builds and operates fiber optic and wireless networks to connect cellular towers to the wireless carriers’ mobile switching centers. Wireless carriers utilize Ethernet and Sonet T-1 broadband capacity provided by Tower Cloud to manage the exploding volume of voice and data traffic on their cellular networks.

Tower Cloud currently operates backhaul networks in the greater Orlando, FL and Miami, FL markets and is in the process of constructing a new network in Atlanta, GA. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL.

Online: www.towercloud.com

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