TDS Telecommunications is shedding its Texas cable operations and reaching a deal to sell the assets to Poka Lambro Telecommunications Ltd. and Nevill Holdings.
The joint agreement includes the transfer of TDS' cable properties in Seminole, Seagraves, and Denver City to Poka Lambro and the cable properties in Alpine and Fort Stockton to Nevill Holdings, the parent company of Big Bend Telephone Company and Big Bend Telecom Ltd. (BBT).
The agreement was signed Monday and is expected to close within the fourth quarter of 2024.
A big focus of Poka Lambro and BBT is the rural nature of the two companies.
Founded in 1950, Poka Lambro initially focused on providing telephone service to rural farms and ranches. Today, the company serves 4,000 square miles of the south plains of Texas with fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) facilities. It provides broadband internet and telecommunications services in a region with thriving residential communities and a robust business climate driven by agribusiness and energy production.
Patrick Sherrill, CEO of Poka Lambro, announced that TDS’s cable assets allow it to branch its presence.
"The addition of these three communities is a natural fit to our existing service territory,” he said.
BBT has served rural communities in West Texas for over 60 years. It offers residents, institutions, and businesses high-speed fiber internet, voice, and data center solutions.
TDS has been doing business in Texas since 2013 when it acquired Baja Broadband, LLC, providing cable TV, voice, and internet service in Texas since 2005.
Eight local TDS Field Service associates will also transfer to the companies as part of the agreement.
TDS has been divesting various parts of its business. During the second quarter, it announced agreements to sell USCellular’s wireless operations to T-Mobile and TDS’s OneNeck IT Solutions operations to US Signal Company. Proceeds from the latter deal will reportedly support planned spending on TDS Telecom’s fiber program.
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Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategies of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report across their websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products.