Armed with a $1.6 billion credit facility, Rightfiber – the name of the now-completed combination of Ritter Communications and Great Plains Communications – plans to grow through network expansions and M&A, said CEO Heath Simpson.
Alongside integration, growth is a top priority for Rightfiber, the broadband operator formed when Grain Management combined two regional operators serving the South (Ritter Communications) and the Midwest and Great Plains (Great Plains Communications). Grain Management completed the strategic transaction on September 2. The $1.6 billion credit facility is led by Fifth Third Bank.
Some of Rightfiber’s anticipated growth will come from organic initiatives, including network expansion, as well as M&A, if such opportunities come to light, Simpson said.
While he is not sharing all the details of Rightfiber’s multi-year growth plan, he said that M&A activity will focus on strategic deals that largely involve fiber service providers.
“We’ll prioritize [M&A] opportunities that are fiber-to-the-home centric” and that accelerate the company’s multi-year plan, Simpson told Light Reading. Ideally, deals would center on nearby and adjacent markets.
Combined company reaches 20 states
Jonesboro, Arkansas-based Ritter Communications and Blair, Nebraska-based Great Plains Communications together serve more than 400 communities in parts of 20 states and about 300,000 residential and business customers via a 28,000-route-mile fiber network. Great Plains serves communities in parts of Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana and Kentucky, while Ritter’s footprint spans Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kentucky.
The majority of Rightfiber’s footprint is fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP), with some areas served by DSL and hybrid/fiber coax (HFC) networks.
As Light Reading reported in June, Ritter and Great Plains are not strangers. Executives from both companies have shared board representation for years through their common ownership structure with Grain Management.
It’s not clear whether the BEAD program might factor into any of Rightfiber’s future growth.
Heading into the merger, both Ritter and Great Plains were involved in initiatives such as Alternative Connect America Cost Model (ACAM) and Enhanced ACAM (E-ACAM), FCC programs that provide predictable funding to rural telephone and broadband providers in exchange for building and upgrading high-speed networks in hard-to-reach areas. They’ve also evaluated BEAD but have not announced any commitments.
Video is in the bundle, while mobile is TBD
Rightfiber will keep its hand in video, largely through an IP-based platform, rather than ceding pay-TV completely to third-party streaming and focusing only on broadband. “Either way, we have them [our customers] covered,” Simpson said.
But for now, Rightfiber is content to sit on the sidelines when it comes to adding mobile to the bundle as it focuses on completing the integration.
The operator will have multiple options if it decides to go in that direction. Ritter, which has explored getting into mobile, and Great Plains have been part of the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC). That group has developed a mobile program for members via its agreements with AT&T, Reach and Telgoo5. MyBundle, which works with dozens of small and midsized operators, is also developing a mobile product in partnership with Gigs, which it will make available to partners.
Rightfiber will continue to monitor the mobile opportunity as it makes the brand transition in the Ritter and Great Plains markets, said Simpson.
“We’re watching and we’re learning from folks, especially similar-sized companies that have launched a mobile service,” he said.
