FirstLight to buy Finger Lakes Technologies Group for NY, PA expansion

FirstLight Fiber, which provides fiber-optic network services to customers in the U.S. Northeast, announced it will expand its footprint via the acquisition of Finger Lakes Technologies Group (FLTG), a subsidiary of Trumansburg Telephone Company (TTC). FLTG provides data, Internet, and voice services to business customers in New York and Pennsylvania. Terms of the deal, which FirstLight expects to close in the third quarter of this year, were not disclosed.

The purchase and assimilation of FLTG will add nearly 2,500 route miles of fiber-optic cable in New York state and Pennsylvania to FirstLight's current network, which spans more than 9,500 route miles. FirstLight therefore will increase its fiber density in the Upstate New York area and expand its services in Northern Pennsylvania.

"This transaction is another exciting and strategic step forward for FirstLight, as it directly supports our long-term growth objectives to increase fiber density and continually enhance our capabilities to the benefit of our enterprise and carrier customers," commented Kurt Van Wagenen, president and CEO of FirstLight. "By combining the impressive assets, resourcefulness, professionalism, and commitment of FLTG with FirstLight, we will not only deliver expanded services to our existing customers, but we will also offer high-quality business connectivity solutions to a growing base of new business customers."

Scott Baker and Benjy Diesbach, Partners at Oak Hill and members of the FirstLight Board of Directors, added, "Finger Lakes is a growing company with a solid track record of success, especially in serving the needs of enterprise customers. FLTG's network complements our recently announced acquisition of Sovernet Communications and builds on our growing momentum by adding an expanded network in New York, a solid customer base and an enhanced services suite, enabling us to further execute upon our business plan."

Oak Hill acquired FirstLight last year (see "Oak Hill Capital Partners targets FirstLight Fiber"). In addition to the Sovernet transaction, Oak Hill also recently acquired Oxford Networks to integrate with FirstLight (see "FirstLight Fiber, Oxford Networks combine fiber-optic networks").

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