Tii Network buys fiber-optic maker

Tii Network Technologies, an Edgewood-based maker of broadband and voice communications devices, has bought a Maryland maker of fiber optic products for an undisclosed sum.

The cash purchase of Frederick Fiber Optics, or F2O on Friday, has led to Tii’s new fiber optics division, and under the deal, there will also be performance-based payments over the next two years. F2O founder and chief executive Alex Feezer will become the vice president of the division.

“We have a great brand, we just don’t have enough stuff,” said Tii chief executive Kenneth A. Paladino. “For years our customers have been looking for us to provide fiber products.”

With this latest acquisition, Tii now offers copper and fiber-optic products, two of the three “legs” that allow people and businesses to communicate and move around data, Paladino said.

The third leg is the wireless component, and Paladino said he’ll work on that front once the fiber optics division is comfortably settled.

Tii’s expansion in the past two years has been part of the small company’s strategy to compete with the big guys, the executive said. It’s grown from a $35 million in sales in 2008 to more than $50 million last year, and its vision is to become a one-stop shopping for communications products and services.

“The purchasing guy doesn’t want to deal with 50 different people,” Paladino said. “He wants to go to one person to get a solution to this, a solution to that . . . Our strategy is to be the fastest, quickest solution provider to our customers. The big guys don’t want to offer custom solutions or solve problems. They just want you to pick something out of a catalogue.”

Photo: Tii workers in product design and analysis.

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