PrairieWave gets consolidated 

By Tim McElligott

West Point, Ga.-based broadband services provider Knology will pay approximately $255 million to consummate a merger with PrairieWave Communications in Sioux Falls, S.D....

Hawaiian Telcom struggles for independence 

By Ed Gubbins

Hawaiian Telcom’s revenue grew and its net loss shrank in the third quarter, but the former Verizon subsidiary admitted it is struggling with efforts to adjust to life as a standalone company...

Windstream rejects wireless, targets broadband 

By Tim McElligott

After strong consideration, Windstream, formerly Alltel’s wireline business, decided against pursuing a wireless resale service offering and said during its third-quarter earnings report today that it would instead concentrate on creating bundled packages that include broadband and digital TV...

Baker bumps Iowa Telecom earnings 

By Tim McElligott

Iowa Telecom was a model of consistency this week as it reported third-quarter results that included a 3% bump in revenue thanks in part to the company’s acquisition of Baker Communications in August...

CenturyTel beats the street with low Q3 earnings 

By Tim McElligott

Revenue was down $37.7 million from last year’s third quarter, but Monroe, La.-based CenturyTel beat earnings per share expectations by a nickel...

Citizens buys Commonwealth Tel for $1.16 billion 

By Carol Wilson

Citizen Communications announced today it will acquire Pennsylvania-based Commonwealth Telephone for $1.16 billion, extending its rural telco footprint and creating the seventh largest U.S. telephone company ...

VON: CopperCom’s capture of IOCs continues 

By Tim McElligott

BOSTON--With a range of solutions and deployment scenarios from switch replacement and cap-and-grow scenarios to customer care and voicemail, CopperCom announced this week it has racked up four more independent operating company customers...

Investors continue to support SunRocket 

By Tim McElligott

Internet phone service provider SunRocket announced a $33 million round of Series C institutional financing today, bringing the firm’s total venture capital raised to approximately $80 million...

Calls for unity at CoBank conference 

By Tim McElligott

Acknowledging the strength in numbers, independent and cooperative telecom companies and their financiers spoke this week at the 2006 CoBank Executive Forum in Beaver Creek, Colo., about the need for a more unified front to regulators and equipment vendors...

SureWest continues operational revamp in Q2  

By Tim McElligott

With two quarters under his belt as CEO, SureWest's Steve Oldham is looking to the future and a long-term payoff to his cost-cutting initiatives and operational changes. ...

Acme Packet gets RUS for session border control 

By Tim McElligott

Halfway through 2006, Acme Packet beat its full 2005 revenue, according to yesterday’s latest SEC filling. The rest of the year could include ringing up more revenue from independent operators thanks to long-standing deployments of its session border control solutions, particularly its Net-Net 4000 SBC, that have led to the company’s acceptance for listing by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service ...

OPASTCO: Big business ripe for small telco service 

By Carol Wilson

.--Business customers may not be aware of the facilities that independent rural telcos can offer them, but they will be wooed by the level of customer service they get, a panel of speakers said today at the 43rd Annual OPASTCO Summer Conference and Trade Show. ...

Windstream stands alone 

By Tim McElligott

The separation of Alltel's wireless and wireline businesses as well as the merger between the landline business and Valor Communications was announced in December 2005....

MPEG-4 set-top delays hurt Tut’s second quarter 

By Ed Gubbins

Delays in the availability of MPEG-4 set-top boxes and their middleware led to the second-quarter revenue shortfall reported by equipment vendor Tut Systems yesterday, Chairman and CEO Sal D'Auria said in a speech at an investor conference....

RLEC M&A could be next 

By Ed Gubbins

With the consolidation of major telecom carriers and vendors well under way, rural carriers may follow suit...

Embarq born tonight 

By Kevin Fitchard

At the stroke of midnight, Sprint will once again be two separate companies. Unlike the release of its PCS tracking stock last decade, though, Sprint is keeping its long-distance and wireless assets together and spinning off its local business instead...

Alltel, Valor name industry's new RLEC 

By Ed Gubbins

The company formed through the merger of Valor Communications and Alltel's wireline business will be known as Windstream Communications, it announced today....

Rural Telephone expands with Sprint exchange buys 

By Vince Vittore

Rural Telephone Service Co. of Lenora, KS, said it has signed an agreement to acquire 12 Sprint exchanges in north central Kansas....

Competitive VPN players benefit from consolidation 

By Carol Wilson

Consolidation has dramatically reshaped the independent market for virtual data services in recent months, as two major players have been acquired and two others have merged ...

Fast Forward: Bob Levine, Levine Family II investment group 

Bob Levine, the primary investor behind Pannaway Technologies, easily could be enjoying a well-funded retirement...

Grande names new CEO 

By Ed Gubbins

Texas carrier Grande Communications named Roy Chestnutt its new chief executive officer today, effective Feb. 13...

‘Staggering’ SmartEdge growth brings Redback profits  

By Ed Gubbins

Redback Networks announced its first profitable quarter in more than five years last night, thanks to growth in sales of its SmartEdge router products that Chief Executive Officer Kevin DeNuccio called “staggering.”...

IP set-top market ready for consolidation 

By Vince Vittore

Despite the lack of volume shipments in 2005 and 2006, the market for IP set-top boxes already has started consolidating, according to a recent study from The Diffusion Group. ...

Nokia Q4 phone sales climb, gain U.S. share 

By Kevin Fitchard

Nokia produced another record three months of handset sales in the fourth quarter, taking a third of a global cell phone market that surged upwards an astounding 24% in 2005....

Nortel makeover may leave Lucent envious  

By Ed Gubbins

The ongoing overhaul of Nortel Networks' corporate management staff at the hands of its new chief executive may spark envy among employees and investors at the company's rival, Lucent Technologies...