Integra acquires World Communications, enhances Washington state reach

Integra has dipped into its pocket book to acquire World Communications Inc. (WCI), a move that will expand its growing network and service presence in the state of Washington.

WCI, a regional carrier focused on the Seattle metro market, currently delivers a host of voice, data and colocation services for the retail, professional services, manufacturing and other vertical markets.

"Seattle is one of our most critical markets and we have a large network there," said Jesse Selnick, CFO for Integra, in an interview with FierceTelecom. "We've been competing with WCI for close to 20 years and they're a big customer of ours by leveraging our network."

The acquisition will afford benefits to both Integra and WCI.

Integra will be able to further scale its customer base in Washington state, while WCI, which has operated in a hybrid model by reselling the services of major global carrier partners along with its own offerings, will be able to offer access to Integra's growing fiber-based networks and service set.

Neither company is a stranger to one another. In addition to its partnerships with large carriers such as AT&T (NYSE: T), Level 3 and Verizon (NYSE: VZ), WCI has been leveraging Integra's network services for a number of years.

While WCI is an asset-lite CLEC, Selnick said that "we think the combination to leverage our network, leverage our product set, and add a great sales engine and a great customer base with strong reputation is great for us on building scale and capability in Seattle."

Today, WCI has about 1,000 customers that have an average revenue per user (ARPU) of about $1,600 a month.

"That is right in the sweet spot of what we've been adding in recent years as we've moved up market," said Selnick.

After meeting necessary federal and state regulatory approvals, Integra said that it expects the acquisition of WCI will be completed in the third quarter this year.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

For more:
- see the release

Related articles:
Integra brings fiber into 8 of Telx's data centers
Integra enhances public sector, nonprofit reach with MiCTA membership
Integra employs Ciena packet optical platform to enhance cloud service business
Integra secures seat on GSA Region 8 contract

Updated article on July 25 with quotes from Jesse Selnick, CFO for Integra.