Rural broadband consolidator LICT Corporation has received a $100 million revolving credit facility from CoBank, a key rural broadband lender.
LICT keeps a low profile, but the company, which trades over the counter on the pink sheets, is an important player in the rural broadband market.
The five-year revolving credit facility extends the term of an existing facility through 2029 and increases the facility from $50 million to $100 million.
LICT currently has 11 subsidiaries in multiple states. The subsidiaries are primarily incumbent rural telecom providers, including some that are over 100 years old.
One exception is Sound Broadband, a fixed wireless subsidiary established last year to offer fixed wireless access (FWA) and to help existing subsidiaries offer FWA.
Last year, Sound Broadband’s president told Telecompetitor that the company was also considering offering mobile service in rural dead zones.
LICT’s recent activity included spinning off Michigan Broadband, originally known Upper Peninsula Telephone Company, and acquiring Utah’s Manti Telephone via the CentraCom subsidiary.
In announcing the new credit facility, LICT noted that it “actively seeks acquisitions, principally in its existing business areas.”
A Typical Rural Broadband Focus
Recent LICT news shows that the company has the same focus areas as many other rural broadband providers.
For example, company subsidiaries have been quite successful in winning funding through the USDA ReConnect program to expand broadband service. As of 2023, the subsidiaries had won grants totaling $157.5 million, and just last week, Western New Mexico Telephone Company won a $45 million ReConnect low-interest loan.
Also worth noting: LICT subsidiaries Cuba City Telephone and Cal-Ore Communications were among multiple companies that opted not to complete builds for which they won funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program as a result of unexpected cost increases.
Finally, when the low-income Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) ended earlier this year, LICT offered one of the more generous ACP replacement programs we’ve seen. The company said it would offer ACP participants an Extended Broadband Discount equivalent to the participants’ ACP benefit through at least January 31, 2025.
