Regional Roundup: Enventis, Birch, FirstLight

Here are several tidbits from regional network operators around the US this week that are worth a quick look:

HickoryTech is rebranding itself as Enventis in a move that will align everything under the name of its fiber subsidiary. They have until now been operating as Enventis in its competitive footprint of Minneapolis/St.Paul, Rochester, Fargo, and lately Des Moines, while maintaining the HickoryTech brand in its southern Minnesota and northwest Iowa ILEC footprint. But it is the regional footprint that is driving the company’s growth, which is the impetus behind the switch. /

Birch Communications has closed its purchase of assets and customers from Lightyear Network Solutions, the company’s 18th acquisition over the past several years. The addition of network assets in Kentucky brings their IP backbone footprint up to 11 states and adds some depth to their hosting and managed services offerings. Lightyear recently settled an FCC case involving USF contributions, paving the way for the deal to close.

And FirstLight Fiber wasn’t content to merely rebrand the company, this week they’ve brought in a new CEO too. Kurt Van Wagenen will take the helm as Tech Valley Communications co-founder Kevin O’Conner retires from the CEO role to become a strategic advisor to the board. Van Wagenen has previously headed FiberTower and Neon Communications, and has deep connections in the region. FirstLight is retooling to take better advantage of its regional network spanning upstate NY, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine in the wake of the Teljet and SegTel deals.

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Categories: CLEC · Mergers and Acquisitions · Metro fiber