Vyyo on Life Support

Vyyo Inc. (Nasdaq: VYYO) will need money in the next three months if it's to remain a going concern, as they say.

As of March 31, Vyyo had $5.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, and it received $4.5 million of new funding on June 13, 2008, according to the 10-K recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) .

Still, that won't be enough to keep Vyyo's financial fire burning if it's unable to add more cash to the pile.

"If we are unsuccessful in securing additional cash in the next three months, either through additional equity and/or debt financings, we will not be able to continue as a going concern," the 10-K reads. The filing also says Vyyo is trying to raise capital.

Vyyo officials were not immediately available Tuesday morning for further comment about near-term funding plans and activities.

After bugging out of the wireless business, Vyyo is solely focused on cable and "UltraBand," a spectrum overlay platform that enables operators to expand bandwidth into the 3 GHz range.

Much of Vyyo's competition comes from suppliers of switched digital video (SDV) systems and vendors that make 1 GHz bandwidth expansion gear -- companies like Arris Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRS), Aurora Networks Inc. , BigBand Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: BBND), Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), Harmonic Inc. (Nasdaq: HLIT), and Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT).

Although Vyyo historically had trouble getting MSOs to buy into its bandwidth-expanding system, its prospects seemed to improve in March 2007 when former Charter Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: CHTR) chief technology officer Wayne Davis joined as CEO, and former Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) CTO Jim Chiddix was appointed vice chairman of the Vyyo board. (See Vyyo Adds New CEO, Vice Chairman.)

But the company decided to retrench in late January. At the time, the company opted to shutter its operations in Israel and, as a result, eliminated more than 70 jobs as it shifted its R&D efforts stateside. (See Vyyo Details Restructuring and Vyyo Cuts 70+ & Closes Israel Office.) As of June 30, Vyyo had trimmed its staff to just 28 employees.

Vyyo incurred a net loss of $29.9 million for its fiscal year ended March 31, and it had tallied secured debt of $41 million and an accumulated deficit of $305.5 million by that point. (In 2007, Vyyo changed its fiscal year-end from Dec. 31 to March 31.) Cable-related revenues for the fiscal year were $3.04 million, "generated primarily from sales to one top-five MSO," the 10-K reads. Cox Communications Inc. is considered to be Vyyo's marquee cable MSO customer, though it has previously gotten some limited traction with StarHub Pte. Ltd. of Singapore. (See Vyyo Wins Cox, Points to Others and StarHub Goes Out-of-Band With Vyyo.)

The 10-K says Vyyo recently completed a restructuring plan, which included the shedding of its wireless business division. It's been saying those moves will slash annual operating expenses by about $20 million.

Vyyo was delisted from the Nasdaq on April 21. Later that month, the company certified that its common stock was held by 300 or fewer record holders at the start of the 2009 fiscal year. Today, the company is traded on the Pink Sheets. In morning trading Tuesday, Vyyo shares were at 17 cents each, with a market cap of $3.17 million. The stock's 52-week high was $7.33.

Founded in 1996, Vyyo is headquartered in Norcross, Ga., but also maintains a presence in the south Denver area.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News