Hargray Communications, an independent ILEC and cable provider operating in South Carolina and Georgia, has added managed services to its growing business services roster on Wednesday by reaching a deal to acquire Savannah-based iTech.
Purchasing iTech comes at a time when Hargray has already built out a sizeable fiber network in Savannah to provide higher speed connectivity services such as high-speed Internet (with speeds up to 1 Gbps), metro-Ethernet (Metro-E), and high-definition video.
To date, Hargray's network includes 4,000 route miles of fiber. To ensure redundancy, the telco's network offers three fiber paths on two physically diverse routes between Hilton Head Island, S.C. and the mainland.
By purchasing iTech, Hargray will be able to extend a broad set of managed services, including managed IT services, backup and security, video surveillance and network design.
Andrew Rein, vice president of sales and marketing for Hargray, said in a release that the iTech acquisition "will enable us to expand the set of business communications and IT services we bring to our customers not only in Savannah but also in South Carolina."
One of the advantages for iTech is it will be able to scale its business by being part of a larger company that has a sizeable set of local technical support, customer care and local sales teams. What this means for current and new iTech customers is faster response times for service.
George Powers, owner of iTech, said "now is the right time for iTech to join a larger organization that will allow it to accelerate its growth."
Hargray's move to acquire iTech and establish itself in the managed services space has become a growing trend in the independent telco space.
The telco joins a host of other smaller players like Warwick Valley Telephone--which recently renamed itself Alteva and began providing a host of unified communications and cloud services through its acquisitions of Alteva and USA Datanet. Likewise, Twin Valley Telephone, a small independent telephone company that serves 6,000 customers in the Miltonvale, Kan. area, in November 2011 purchased ISG, a provider of data center, cloud and managed services tailored to business customers.
The acquisition is expected to close at the end of this month, but Hargray did not disclose the terms.
For more:
- see the release
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