Tuesday, July 09, 2013

New firm looking to buy rural telephone companies

If you’re a customer of an independent, rural telephone company, there’s a good chance it will be getting a buyout offer soon. Five rural telcos -- based in South Dakota, North Dakota and Texas -- in March teamed up to form USConnect Holdings, a company designed to acquire other rural and independent communications providers, Joan Engebretson reports for Telecompetitor, which describes itself as "a community of professionals with a passion for telecom and broadband."

A spokesperson for USConnect told Engebretson, “As the industry consolidates and evolves, the way to keep rural America a viable place to live, work and play is with a strong communications infrastructure. This group does that today and wants to make sure these types (of communications services) are available for rural consumers.” The spokesperson declined to say which companies USConnect was interested in purchasing.

The spokesperson said, “The existing business models of rural telecom companies (are) changing. There are new opportunities and challenges and every communications company in America is aligning (its) resources with solid business plans. As (the industry) evolves, the company will evolve with it,” Engebretson reports. (Read more)

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