Birch Communications is expanding its multisite business service capabilities by acquiring Ernest Communications, a voice and data services aggregator, for an undisclosed amount. The new assets will allow Birch to reach business customers across the United States and Canada.
Expected to close in Q3 this year, this is the 19th acquisition the CLEC has made since 2006.
By acquiring Ernest, Birch will now provide services to business customers in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and into Canada. Meanwhile, Ernest's customers and its sales partners will get Birch's 24x7 customer service capabilities and its growing base of IP-based services, including SIP trunking.
"The suite of solutions Ernest currently provides to their business clients--voice, data and hosted/managed services--are a perfect complement to the current Birch business product offerings," said Vincent M. Oddo, Birch president and CEO.
Similar to its pending acquisitions of Lightyear and Covista, the Ernest deal reflects Birch's "tuck-in" strategy in which it purchases other service providers that can add complementary service and network assets to its fold. Birch has also built a network that includes 290 central offices and 15 towers for its wireless local loop services in five states.
For more
- see the release
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