Dobson Fiber announced it has acquired Ft. Smith, Ark. -based Pinnacle Communications, which provides high-speed fiber to business and residential customers in parts of Western Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma, for an undisclosed sum.
The Dobson Fiber-Pinnacle transaction increases Dobson’s fiber route miles to over 4,500 while also expanding the company’s operations into Arkansas and increasing the company’s addressable business market to more than 35,000 locations.
Dobson will launch its Dobson Fiber brand in the acquired markets in the next couple of weeks. The company just recently rebranded to Dobson Fiber from Dobson Technologies.
The acquisition also will mark the end of the Pinnacle brand. The company began providing telephone service in Oklahoma and Arkansas in 1941, five years after Dobson started its telephone service. Over the years, Pinnacle expanded the operations into the Ft. Smith and surrounding rural areas.
“Our acquisition of Pinnacle complements our overall vision. This investment represents an important strategic opportunity that allows us to expand our geographic presence and continue our mission of building the most reliable and fastest fiber-optic network throughout the areas we serve,” said Everett Dobson, the company’s executive chairman, in a prepared statement.
“We are excited to introduce the Pinnacle employees and customers to Dobson, [and] expand our product set and distribution channels into the Pinnacle geographic footprint,” said Francisco Maella, Dobson Fiber CEO, in a prepared statement.
The Dobson Pinnacle acquisition is one of several in the rural broadband area in the last few months. Other recent deals include Cable One’s definitive agreement to purchase the 85% of Hargray Acquisition Holdings that it doesn’t already own and Nextlink Internet’s acquisition of Future Technologies of Lincoln, Neb.; Affordable Internet Solutions (AIS) of Waverly, Neb.; and Infinity 8 Broadband (I8) of Hickman, Neb.
