Sioux Center, Iowa — A Sioux Center-based telephone, cable, and Internet provider has purchased several telephone exchanges in northwest Iowa, and the sale is set to become final upon regulatory approval.
Premier Communications is set to acquire the Iowa telephone exchanges of: Akron, Boyden, Doon, Hawarden, Hull, Ireton, Rock Rapids, Rock Valley and Sibley, which are currently owned by Consolidated Communications. These exchanges were part of the original Northwestern Bell area and for many of the last several years were owned by a company called “Hickory Tech.”
We had a chance to talk with Premier CEO Doug Boone. We asked him what the acquisition would mean to those involved. First of all, we asked him how adding nine exchanges would affect their workforce.
Consolidated currently has an office in Rock Rapids and other infrastructure in other communities. Boone says time will tell what happens to those facilities.
Boone says that out of the nine exchanges they are purchasing, Premier is only new to two of them.
Boone says that at the start of service, they will offer the same products that were offered through Consolidated, such as telephone service and DSL Internet. However, he says they will continue to make improvements to the old network to upgrade their services. He says while they do offer subscription cable TV service in some communities, it remains to be seen if they will add that service in areas where they don’t already offer it.
According to a press release from Consolidated in May, the agreement is an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $22.5 million, subject to certain contractual adjustments.
