Ontario & Trumansburg Telephone Companies creates Upstate Fiber Networks through Oak Hill Capital partnership

April 1, 2021

The deal will see OTTC expand its fiber to the home (FTTH) footprint in upstate New York via the creation of a new division, Upstate Fiber Networks, which will launch by providing FTTH based broadband services within the Finger Lakes region of the state.

Stephen Hardy

OTTC President Paul Griswold is flanked by OTTC Director of Customer Operations & Marketing Ashley Gustafson (left) and Brendan Griswold, new manager of solutions development and project management at Upstate Fiber Networks.

Ontario & Trumansburg Telephone Companies (OTTC) says it has been acquired by an entity of Oak Hill Capital for an undisclosed amount. The deal will see OTTC expand its fiber to the home (FTTH) footprint in upstate New York via the creation of a new division, Upstate Fiber Networks, which will launch by providing FTTH based broadband services within the Finger Lakes region of the state.

The transaction, first revealed this past October, is the second time OTTC has consummated a purchase agreement with Oak Hill. OTTC sold subsidiary Finger Lakes Technologies Group, which operated a 3,000-mile fiber network across Upstate New York that serves enterprise customers, to Oak Hill's FirstLight Fiber in 2017 (see "FirstLight to buy Finger Lakes Technologies Group for NY, PA expansion"). “In our previous partnership, we were very impressed by OTTC’s family leadership team and their commitment to enhancing fiber communications for local businesses in Upstate NY,” stated Scott Baker and Benjy Diesbach, partners at Oak Hill. “With this new partnership, we are excited to offer state-of-the art, fiber-to-the-home connectivity to residential customers throughout the region.”

“Partnering with Oak Hill has positioned us for accelerated growth and geographic expansion, providing our customers with reliable service and high-speed connectivity, without compromising our core principles of community values and quality service,” added Paul Griswold, president of OTTC and UFN. “We are excited for the opportunity to bring high-speed internet connectivity to customers beyond our current established market. As we continue to navigate remote work and online education, we remain committed to providing our customers with reliable, high-speed connectivity and quality service.”

UFN, which is registered as a CLEC, will start construction of new FTTH infrastructure this month in the communities of Waterloo, Seneca Falls, and Geneva, NY. Brendan Griswold, Paul’s son, has been named manager of solutions development and project management at UFN after having served most recently as solutions development manager at OTTC.

Founded in 1920 and family led through five generations, OTTC and its subsidiaries provide phone and internet services to more than 12,000 residential and business customers in New York state. Paul Griswold received the FTTXcellence Award, presented each year by Corning and Lightwave to recognize achievements in optical access in the Americas, in 2019 (see “Paul Griswold named 2019 FTTXcellence Award recipient”).

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.