TYLER, Texas-Teletouch Communications Inc. announced it will get out of the paging business to focus on its global positioning system tracking, telematics and homeland-security services. The carrier said it will sell its paging business to a group of private Texas investors for $5.2 million. At its last reported count in February, Teletouch had 162,300 paging subscribers.
“This decision eliminates the uncertainty and ongoing concern issues that have surrounded the decline of our paging business, a consequence of the declining paging industry in general,” said T. A. Hyde, chief executive officer of Teletouch. “This uncertainty has been a primary concern of potential lenders and investors and has severely limited us from entering into new financing relationships that would improve our growth and position in the marketplace. Ultimately, we believe that the cash generated as a result of this asset sale will considerably enhance Teletouch’s long-term value by providing needed working capital for potential acquisitions and faster internal growth.”
Teletouch is the latest victim of the declining paging market. The paging industry has been losing subscribers since the late 1990s.
