Windstream Communications
 | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as |
NASDAQ: WIN S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Key people | Jeffery R. Gardner - President & CEO |
| Products | Advanced Network Communications, including Cloud Computing and Managed Services to businesses nationwide. Broadband, Phone and Digital TV to consumers in rural areas. |
| Revenue | US$4.1 billion |
| Employees | 14,500 |
| Website | www.windstream.com |
Windstream Communications is a provider of voice and data network communications (broadband, VoIP, MPLS), and managed services (virtual servers, managed firewall, data storage, cloud-based voice, etc.), to businesses in the United States.[1] The company also offers residential broadband, phone and digital TV services to consumers within its coverage area. It is the ninth largest residential telephone provider in the country.[2] Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Windstream has more than $6 billion in annual revenues and is listed on the S&P 500 index.
The company was formed in 2006, when Alltel's local telephone service merged with Valor Communications Group out of part of GTE (now part of Verizon)'s local telephone business in the Southwestern United States.
Windstream is a partner with Dish Network, offering satellite service to its customers.
History
Valor Telecom was formed in 2000 to take over GTE Southwest assets that Verizon was selling following its acquisition of GTE.
The company went public in 2005, under the name Valor Communications Group, Inc.
Change to Windstream
In 2006, Valor agreed to acquire the local telephone operations of Alltel. Following the acquisition, the combined company was renamed Windstream Communications.
Expansion and sales
On May 29, 2007, the company announced that it would acquire CT Communications for $585 million. The acquisition would result in an addition of approximately 158,000 access lines and 29,000 broadband customers, nearly doubling the company's presence in North Carolina. The sale closed August 31, 2007.[3][4] The telephone operating company was renamed Windstream Concord Telephone.
In 2007, Windstream sold off its Windstream Yellow Pages unit to a private equity firm, who renamed the unit Local Insight Yellow Pages. The company has been dissolved into The Berry Company.
On May 11, 2009, the company announced that it would acquire D&E Communications of Ephrata, Pennsylvania for approximately $330 million. The acquisition would result in an addition of approximately 165,000 access lines and 44,000 high speed internet customers. The acquisition would greatly expand the company's presence in Pennsylvania, including significant expansion of its CLEC presence in seven markets in the state, including State College, PA, home of Pennsylvania State University.[5][6] The transaction closed November 10, 2009.[7]
On November 24, 2009, the company announced that it would acquire Iowa Telecom for $1.1 billion. The acquisition would result in an addition 256,000 access lines, about 95,000 high-speed Internet customers and about 26,000 digital TV customers, adding rural Iowa and Minnesota to the company.[8]
On February 8, 2010, the company acquired Nuvox, a company formed from a merger of NuVox Communications, Gabriel Communications and Trivergent Communications.[9]
On August 17, 2010, the company announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Q-Comm Corporation in a transaction valued at approximately $782 million. This includes Q-Comm’s wholly owned subsidiaries Kentucky Data Link, Inc. (KDL),[10] a fiber services provider in 22 states, and Norlight, Inc.,[11] a CLEC primarily serving the Midwest. Both KDL and Norlight are based in Evansville, IN. Q-Comm subsidiaries Cinergy MetroNet[12] and nGenX[13] will be spun off as independent companies prior to the close of the deal.[14]
In November 2010, the company announced that it would acquire Hosted Solutions for $310 million. Hosted Solutions is a North Carolina-based managed hosting, cloud and colocation provider with a footprint of five datacenters in Cary, Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina as well as Boston, Massachusetts.[15]
In August 2011, the company announced that it would acquire PAETEC Holding Corp., a Rochester, New York-based telecommunications company. As of December 1, 2011, this acquisition has been completed.[16]
References
- ↑ "Windstream Business Product Line Up". Telecom Carrier Reports. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
- ↑ Leichtman Research Group, "Research Notes," First Quarter 2012, pg. 6, Windstream (#9) with 1,931,700 residential phone lines.
- ↑ "Windstream Corporation to Acquire CT Communications for $585 Million". Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ↑ "Windstream Grows NC Presence with CT Buy". Telephonyonline.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ↑ "Windstream to acquire D&E Communications". Windstream.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ↑ Ed Gubbins May 11th, 2009 (2009-05-11). "Blog.connectedplanetonline.com". Blog.connectedplanetonline.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ↑ "Investing.businessweek.com". Investing.businessweek.com. 2009-11-10. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ↑ The transaction is expected to close in mid 2010
- ↑ "NuVox Acquisition Complete". Windstream.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ↑ KDLinc.com
- ↑ "Norlight.com". Norlight.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ↑ "Cincergymetronet.com". Cinergymetronet.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ↑ Ngnex.com
- ↑ "Windstream to acquire Kentucky Data Link, Norlight". News.windstream.com. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ↑ http://www.hostedsolutions.com/press/coverage-detail/Windstream-acquires-Hosted-Solutions-in--310M-deal-88
- ↑ Edwards, Adam. "Windstream Completes Acquisition of PAETEC". Telarus Industry Briefs. Retrieved 1 December 2011.