Verizon Wireless said it completed the purchase of Northern California wireless operator Mountain Cellular from Sierra Tel Communications Group. The deal includes Mountain Cellular’s spectrum license covering 170,000 potential customers in El Dorado County stretching along Highway 50 from El Dorado Hills to South Lake Tahoe, 21 cell sites and related network equipment, as well as Mountain Cellular’s approximately 10,000 subscribers. Verizon Wireless said it will begin integrating Mountain Cellular’s CDMA network into its 1x-based network phases, with plans to add capacity beginning early next year to handle call volume from existing Verizon Wireless customers and to install high-speed data capabilities by the end of next year. Verizon Wireless noted that Highway 50 was a key travel route in the region and was heavily used by area residents and visitors traveling to Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border. Financial terms of the purchase were not released.
Rural telecommunications provider Shenandoah Telecommunications Co., which also operates as a Sprint PCS affiliate, closed on its previously announced $23.2 million acquisition of NTC Communications, which provides Ethernet, cable television, local and long-distance telephone service to off-campus apartment communities. The deal included the 83.88 percent of NTC that Shenandoah did not previously own and was made up of approximately $10 million in cash and the assumption of $13.2 million of debt and capital leases. In connection with the purchase, Shenandoah obtained a $15 million revolving credit facility from CoBank that will be used to refinance the NTC debt and capital leases.
The first iDEN wireless service in Puerto Rico is expected to launch in the fourth quarter under the brand name of ProxTel Wireless. North Sight Communications Inc. awarded Motorola Inc. a contract to provide equipment for the service. The North Sight service will provide businesses and government users communications services. The new carrier plans to have islandwide coverage.
