Ziply Fiber will be acquiring iFIBER Communications, a provider of high-speed fiber internet services. iFIBER’s current owners are public utility districts (PUDs) in western, central and eastern Washington, and residents of those counties will continue to receive service over the iFIBER network.
Though the price of the transaction was undisclosed, Ziply Fiber will likely use some of its $450 million in new funding to close the deal.
iFiber offers fiber internet and digital phone solutions for residential customers “in partnership with” Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kitsap, Mason and Pend Oreille counties in Washington, Ziply said.
Upon completion of the acquisition, Ziply Fiber will provide fiber internet service through an indefinite right of use (IRU) with each partner PUD. Customers will benefit from expanded service hours, access to new products such as hosted voice, whole home Wi-Fi and upgraded network management capabilities. Current iFIBER customers will continue to receive internet and voice services provided by the iFIBER team. All iFIBER employees will continue supporting new and existing customers.
Ziply Fiber has announced new fiber construction projects in excess 90 Pacific Northwest cities and towns across since it began its aggressive fiber expansion efforts in the summer of 2020. Among the most recent expansions was a deal to acquire Eastern Oregon Net, a transaction announced in June.
Ziply was created when Frontier divested properties in several Northwest states. The company plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build an advanced, 100% fiber network to many suburban and rural communities across the region. The company plans to build and deploy new fiber-optic cables, local hubs, new offices, and new hardware to run the network as part of hundreds of projects across its 250,000-square-mile footprint.
“From our start, Ziply Fiber has been dedicated to elevating the connected lives of our neighbors in the Northwest,” said Harold Zeitz, Ziply Fiber CEO, in a prepared statement. “We continue to look for new ways to bring high-speed fiber connectivity to as many communities as possible. Today’s agreement with iFIBER not only expedites our ability to bring fiber internet to more customers, but also supports our belief in building effective public-private partnerships.”
