NTelos to spend $40 million on W.Va. network

By Eric Eyre

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- NTelos plans to spend $40 million to expand high-speed data and fiber optic networks in West Virginia over the next three years, if the state Public Service Commission approves the company's plan to purchase FiberNet.

The money would be used to upgrade facilities and equipment, NTelos said Tuesday.

"The $40 million provides the opportunity to stabilize the network and to grow the network," said Frank Berry, president of NTelos's wire line business.

In July, NTelos announced plans to purchase FiberNet -- which primarily serves businesses and public agencies in West Virginia -- for $170 million.

On Tuesday, NTelos executives asked commissioners to approve the sale by early November. The companies hope to close the deal by the end of the year.

"By promptly approving this transaction, you will allow us to put this period of uncertainty behind NTelos and FiberNet," Berry told commissioners during a hearing in Charleston Tuesday. "Combining our two companies under strong, unified leadership will allow NTelos to make the investments needed to deliver unmatched data and voice services over a stable and reliable network."

PSC Chairman Mike Albert questioned Berry about FiberNet's recent troubles, which include two statewide telephone outages this month.

Berry said NTelos engineers were helping FiberNet this week to prevent future outages. NTelos also has assisted FiberNet in acquiring new equipment, he said.

"We're providing resources to help address the issues," Berry said. "We're stepping in. We have engineers out there right now."

Earlier this week, Charleston-based FiberNet announced plans to replace its power plant on Leon Sullivan Way. The announcement came after FiberNet customers -- including some hospitals, fire departments and police agencies across West Virginia -- lost service for about four hours on Monday.

FiberNet also had a similar outage on Oct. 10. The PSC is investigating the matter.

Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper and others have criticized FiberNet for failing to notify 911 centers and emergency officials about the outages. Berry promised that wouldn't happen under NTelos' watch.

"We absolutely have processes in place for notification when there are any service issues," Berry said. "I'm confident now that [FiberNet is] going in the right direction," he said. "In the end, their customers are going to be my customers. We have an interest in seeing that their customers are served."

FiberNet operates about 100,000 telephone access lines in West Virginia and surrounding states. Regulators in Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania already have approved the sale. The Federal Communication Commission is reviewing the deal.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- NTelos plans to spend $40 million to expand high-speed data and fiber optic networks in West Virginia over the next three years, if the state Public Service Commission approves the company's plan to purchase FiberNet.

The money would be used to upgrade facilities and equipment, NTelos said Tuesday.

"The $40 million provides the opportunity to stabilize the network and to grow the network," said Frank Berry, president of NTelos's wire line business.

In July, NTelos announced plans to purchase FiberNet -- which primarily serves businesses and public agencies in West Virginia -- for $170 million.

On Tuesday, NTelos executives asked commissioners to approve the sale by early November. The companies hope to close the deal by the end of the year.

"By promptly approving this transaction, you will allow us to put this period of uncertainty behind NTelos and FiberNet," Berry told commissioners during a hearing in Charleston Tuesday. "Combining our two companies under strong, unified leadership will allow NTelos to make the investments needed to deliver unmatched data and voice services over a stable and reliable network."

PSC Chairman Mike Albert questioned Berry about FiberNet's recent troubles, which include two statewide telephone outages this month.

Berry said NTelos engineers were helping FiberNet this week to prevent future outages. NTelos also has assisted FiberNet in acquiring new equipment, he said.

"We're providing resources to help address the issues," Berry said. "We're stepping in. We have engineers out there right now."

Earlier this week, Charleston-based FiberNet announced plans to replace its power plant on Leon Sullivan Way. The announcement came after FiberNet customers -- including some hospitals, fire departments and police agencies across West Virginia -- lost service for about four hours on Monday.

FiberNet also had a similar outage on Oct. 10. The PSC is investigating the matter.

Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper and others have criticized FiberNet for failing to notify 911 centers and emergency officials about the outages. Berry promised that wouldn't happen under NTelos' watch.

"We absolutely have processes in place for notification when there are any service issues," Berry said. "I'm confident now that [FiberNet is] going in the right direction," he said. "In the end, their customers are going to be my customers. We have an interest in seeing that their customers are served."

FiberNet operates about 100,000 telephone access lines in West Virginia and surrounding states. Regulators in Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania already have approved the sale. The Federal Communication Commission is reviewing the deal.

Berry said FiberNet's parent company, One Communications of Burlington, Mass., is struggling financially. The sale requires Waynesboro, Va.-based NTelos to pay $170 million directly to One Communications' creditors, he said.

"The transaction will strengthen our companies' ability to enhance current service offerings, bring a more advanced suite of services to a broader customer base, and to provide West Virginians with a meaningful choice of telecommunications providers," Berry said.

The Public Service Commission called Tuesday's meeting to hear details about a proposed settlement between NTelos and Frontier Communications, which owns the overwhelming majority of West Virginia's telephone landlines.

Under a "joint stipulation," Frontier has agreed not to intervene in Ntelos' request to purchase FiberNet, while FiberNet dropped a billing dispute complaint filed against Frontier.

NTelos also promised to honor all of FiberNet's existing contracts with Frontier, and FiberNet said it would waive early termination fees for customers who have "bundled packages" for 90 days after the sale.

"NTelos and Frontier had differing interests and concerns in this proceeding, but we successfully worked together to reach an agreement," Berry said.

On Oct. 15, the Public Service Commission's staff recommended that the commission approve NTelos' plan to take over FiberNet's landline business in West Virginia. PSC staff concluded that the deal's benefits to customers outweigh the potential harm.

In a memo, staff members said the commission should require NTelos to respond to all customer complaints filed with the PSC within 10 days.

In 2009, NTelos only responded within 10 days to 42 percent of complaints filed against the company in West Virginia. However, NTelos has answered all complaints within 10 days so far this year.

Berry said company officials met with employees to ensure NTelos will continue to respond promptly to complaints after the FiberNet acquisition.

NTelos has about 440,000 wireless customers in West Virginia and surrounding states.

Source: WV Gazzette

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Great news which will make our network second to none in West Virginia and the 5 surrounding states.

Regards,

Thomas

FiberNet Communications

304.720.1652 - office

304.533.3160 - cell

800.320.6144, ext. 1652 - toll free

304.720.2114 - fax

voicefiber@gmail.com - public email

Fiber M&A Reaches Frenzied Pitch

July 21, 2010 by Kelly Teal, Business and Regulatory Editor 0 Comments

 

Telecom M&A in the United States has shown surprising life this year, even as the country tries to push through a jobless economic recovery. CenturyTel’s pending takeover of Qwest Communications International Inc. is the prime, and possibly last, example of major mergers in 2010. But smaller deals, especially on the fiber front, continue to proliferate.

“This is probably one of the biggest years for fiber M&A,” said Gillis Cashman, general partner at private equity firm M/C Venture Partners, whose portfolio includes acquisition-hungry fiber operator Zayo Group.
That’s because demand for wireless backhaul capacity has erased the glut from the early part of the decade, said ATLANTIC-ACM analyst Lalitya Sastrawinata.

“Other applications, such as consumer video, mobile Internet access, data storage and recovery services, all are driving significant demand for fiber,” Sastrawinata added.

There could be more fiscal drivers to consolidation, as well: “I’ve got to think that some of this has to do with capital gains [taxes] going up next year,” Cashman remarked. “Tax implications are driving peoples’ decisions to sell now versus wait another year or so.”

John Scarano, COO of Zayo Group and president of Zayo Bandwidth, which just bought American Fiber Systems, its 15th acquisition since 2007, said that rising valuations are catching the eyes of smaller operators: “Some owners are frankly tired of the operations and want to move on, and there are owners being opportunistic, with the purchase prices having been bid up in last couple of years.”

A more unified fiber sector bodes well for the industry overall. In other telecom segments, such as the CLEC and enterprise worlds, companies combine to rationalize costs, Cashman explained. On the carrier and content sides, “the more scale you have, you’re rewarded.” Zayo, for example, now has more footprint to sell thanks to the American Fiber Systems deal and stands to profit as a result, Sastrawinata said.

Announced on June 30, Zayo's AFS acquisition “signals a new course of fiber player consolidation," Sastrawinata added. "With fiber demand continuing to increase and the economy in a halting recovery, companies like AboveNet, tw telecom and other RLECs could be making similar moves in the near future."
Meanwhile, some rivals are reported to be on the auction block – FiberTech, Alpheus Communications, Kentucky Datalink and Intellifiber have been rumored to in recent weeks to be open to fielding offers.
“Metro fiber is very hot right now with private equity and there seem to be some big ideas floating around backed by some very interesting money,” industry blogger Rob Powell noted in a recent post.

Indeed, on July 20, regional operator NTELOS Holdings said it’s buying FiberNet, a division of privately held CLEC One Communications. The $170 million deal gives NTELOS another 3,500 miles of metro and regional fiber throughout West Virginia and the surrounding region, enabling the provider to offer more high-bandwidth services to sell to large enterprises, government customers and carriers, the company said.
The M&A fever reflects the importance of fiber to operators' business models: It’s the must-have commodity of the future.

“I think it’s great for the industry,” said Cashman.

Link

My New Analog Phone Line

Hello,

We just had our new analog phone landline and DSL connection installed from my new company, FiberNet, a week ago Monday. We finally bought an analog phone last night and it is awesome!

I am very happy to have another phone number dialing option instead of relying solely on the cell phones and VOIP which we, like millions of other Americans, have been using for the past 4 yrs. More on that in a minute.

I agree that ATT, Verizon (now Frontier) and QWest, for those of you out west, have become horrid in all respects and have been monopolies for so long, that they have long ago became conceited/arrogant corporations which deserve the competition they are getting from the CLECs. 

These new competitive Telcos, which have only been around since 1996's Telecom Reform Act passed by congress, offer a whole lot better customer service, support and quality of service, while saving you anywhere from 10-50% a month.

In fact, I have had both my folks and in-laws keep at least one landline analog phone line coupled with an old analog phone (no chord-less) because these still work even in a power outage and their 911 services work 100% to perfection VS. VOIP/cable phone services. When it comes to emergencies and our families, IMO there is no substitute.

I get the feeling that many other young couples like us are starting to come back around to these older technologies, much like the whole vinyl records craze going on today, because there are many advantages to utilizing BOTH analog AND digital technologies. 

Having both gives you many options, choices and redundancies and that is all that really matters when it comes to today's communications.

Regards,

Thomas

FiberNet Communications

304.720.1652 - office

304.533.3160 - cell

800.320.6144, ext. 1652 - toll free

304.720.2114 - fax

voicefiber@gmail.com - public email