Great Lakes regional fiber provider Surf Internet has acquired the fiber assets of MiSignal, which is based in Howell, Mich., the county seat of Livingston County.
MiSignal was a fiber provider in eastern Michigan that offered symmetrical gigabit connectivity to businesses and residential customers. The acquisition does not include MiSignal’s business phone interests, which will continue to operate under the MiSignal brand. Employees of the acquired parts of MiSignal will join Surf Internet, the company said.
Surf Internet already is invested in Livingston County. It plans to invest $20 million more during the next three years to eventually reach more than 18,000 households in the county.
Surf Internet said that there would be no interruption to the pricing, products and support provided by MiSignal. The office in Howell will not be closed but instead will be operated by Surf Internet.
“At Surf Internet, we believe that broadband is one of the greatest equalizers of our time, providing access to the same internet-based services to all people regardless of where they live or their socioeconomic status,” Surf Internet CEO Gene Crusie, said in a press release.
“We are very excited to join forces with the MiSignal team. While our networks are already connected in multiple locations, the truly exciting thing for us is the transformative potential of Surf and MiSignal to bridge the digital divide in Livingston County.”
Surf Internet, which operates in Indiana and Illinois in addition to Michigan, was acquired by Bain Capital and the Post Road Group in 2021. The provider now serves more than 29,000 customers in 45 markets.
Surf has been expanding quite aggressively, with some builds funded, in part, through government funding programs.
In early February, Crusie described its broadband funding wins to Telecompetitor. They included about $1 million in Michigan (which the company will match with an additional $1 million); $6.6 million from the Indiana Next Level Connect program (Surf will contribute matching funds for a total investment of more than $10 million) and $115,000 from the Indiana Connect program (to which Surf Internet will add $50,000).
Two days after the story appeared – on February 6 – the company said that it raised $100 million in debt financing from DigitalBridge Credit, a division of DigitalBridge Group. The funding is aimed at improving broadband in the Great Lakes region, the company said.
