PhireLink announced today that it will acquire Arkwest Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spectracomm, Inc. The acquisition will expand PhireLink’s business into the Arkansas market. The company already has broadband business in Louisiana, Colorado, and Kansas.
Terms of the agreement between PhireLink and Arkwest Communications were not disclosed. The deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of the year.
Arkwest Communications has a fiber network covering more than 900 route miles. The network uses third-generation GPON fiber technology to provide multi-gigabit-per-second symmetrical upstream and downstream broadband speeds.
“This acquisition marks a key milestone in our growth journey as we enter the Arkansas market, and I am pleased to partner with a company led by the Sanders family whom I have known and respected for many years,” Glen F. Post III, PhireLink chairman and CEO, said in the announcement of the Arkwest Communications acquisition.
“Arkwest’s extensive, fiber-based network, strong financial profile, experienced employee base, and deep community ties formed over several generations of local family ownership, make it the ideal launching point for PhireLink’s planned rural-based, broadband expansion strategy across central and broader Arkansas.”
PhireLink is a prequalified Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program awardee in Louisiana.
Rumors continue to circulate that the rules for the BEAD program may change. However, stakeholders are urging the new NTIA administration to avoid delays, so hopefully states that have done a prequalification or letter of intent (LOI) process will not have to redo it. At least 38 states have begun or completed the process of accepting applications for BEAD funding, including four that already have selected awardees.
