Telecom provider Otelco rebrands, with plans to expand in Maine
Courtesy / GoNetspeed
New Gloucester-based telecom provider Otelco has been rebranded within a larger portfolio under the name GoNetspeed.
A year after its acquisition by a private equity firm, New Gloucester-based telecommunication services provider Otelco Inc. (Nasdaq: OTEL) on Monday said it is rebranding as GoNetspeed.
Otelco, which has operations centers in Bangor and New Gloucester, was purchased in April 2021 by Oak Hill Capital, based in Stamford, Conn., for approximately $40.6 million.
Oak Hill Capital has a portfolio of fiber-to-the-premises companies that includes Otelco and GoNetspeed, which is headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., which Oak Hill acquired in January 2021.
Other companies in the portfolio are Lantek Fiber Optic Services Inc., Icon Connections Inc., Ontario & Trumansburg Telephone Cos. and Upstate Fiber Networks.
Oak Hill Capital has spent the past year combining the organizations as a single brand under the GoNetspeed name. The name was chosen because it has strong recognition in communities it serves, the firm said in a news release.
Maine-based CEO
Otelco’s president and CEO, Richard Clark, will continue to serve as CEO of GoNetspeed and is based in the New Gloucester location.
“This is an exciting time for Otelco, GoNetspeed, and the family of brands that has been joining forces over the past year,” Clark said in a news release.
Clark continued, “There’s strength in numbers, which is why we brought all of these organizations together, pairing years of experience and service with a new wave of communication technology.”
Bringing the companies together, he said, allows the single GoNetspeed brand to invest more, reach a wider footprint of customers, and coordinate internal teams.
In Maine, the plan is to add nearly 550 miles of fiber lines by the end of 2022, reaching more than 57,000 homes. To accommodate that growth, the company this year has hired 23 people and there are 16 open positions in construction, sales, customer service and IT.
Year-long restructure
GoNetspeed is investing nearly $200 million to build out approximately 2,000 miles of fiber internet to 200,000 locations across multiple states. Construction plans are already mapped out through the end of the year.
Across all of its markets, company plans to hire for as many as 200 positions, with 94 positions currently open.
Over the past 12 months, the Oak Hill companies have restructured their senior leadership teams and unified branding and marketing.
Fiber internet offers symmetrical speeds, meaning that downloads and uploads are equally fast. Connectivity problems that sometimes affect video conferencing associated with telecommuting, online learning and telemedicine have made fast upload speeds more important over recent years.
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