Consolidated Communications has received the green light from the Vermont Public Utility Commission to proceed with its proposed sale to a private investment company.
The $3.1 billion sale to affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation still needs approval from federal regulators, but company officials expect to finalize the deal by early 2025 if not sooner. Vermont Public first reported news of the commission’s approval.
By going private, state officials expect that Consolidated, which is the state’s largest landline telecommunications provider, will be able to access new funding to continue building out its Fidium fiber-optic based broadband network in the state.
“Consolidated has asserted that the sale will give them access to additional capital to continue the fiber to the premises buildout across the state,” Hunter Thompson, director of telecommunications and connectivity for the Vermont Public Service Department, said in an email.
The sale is not expected to cause any immediate change in the existing rates, carriers or terms of service for existing customers, according to the Public Utility Commission’s order published on Nov. 14.
“There is no correlation between the sale and consumer pricing,” said Garrett Van Osdell, chief legal officer for Consolidated Communications, in an emailed statement.
Consolidated has agreed to the Public Utility Commission’s conditions to send semi-annual reports regarding fiber buildout and a headcount of workers supporting Vermont operations for a three-year period following approval of the sale.
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The purpose is to have “a useful metric” to gauge Consolidated’s performance, to provide oversight and confirm the company’s claims that management will remain the same with no plans to reduce, eliminate or increase employees over the next three years, Hunter said.
The commission’s order outlines ongoing concerns about Consolidated’s service quality, including failing to solve out-of-service issues in a timely manner over several periods. There has been “only one quarter where Consolidated has met all of its baseline retail service quality performance standards throughout its history of reporting,” the order notes.
Along with monitoring the new fiber build-out, the commission will continue to monitor service quality issues and make sure Consolidated invests in and maintains its existing copper network, especially in light of the recent floods, Hunter added.
Searchlight, a global private investment firm with at least $12 billion in assets, first invested in the company in 2020 and has been “a supportive partner,” according to Van Osdell.
“Our fiber network investment will continue to bring new economic, educational, employment and entertainment opportunities and benefits to newly connected Vermont communities, including more than 50,000 additional new Vermont fiber passings planned for 2025,” he said in the statement.
Consolidated, which operates in more than 20 states, entered Vermont in 2017 when it acquired FairPoint Communications, which had previously taken over Verizon’s network.
Since 2021, the company has invested $117 million to provide broadband and voice services to 134,000 Vermont homes and businesses with its Fidium Fiber brand, according to Van Osdell.
This includes service to three communications union districts via partnerships with Southern Vermont CUD, Lamoille FiberNet and Otter Creek CUD, according to a press release.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont Public Utility Commission signs off on Consolidated Communications sale.