TDS Telecom to transfer ownership of four local exchange markets to Direct Communications

TDS Telecom entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with Direct Communications headquartered in Rockland, Idaho to transfer ownership of four Incumbent Local Exchange Companies (ILECs). TDS will transfer three Missouri locations including Stoutland, Orchard Farms and New London, and one in Condon, Oregon. Combined the companies represent approx. 2,900 access lines. The agreement was signed on May 2, 2014 and is expected to close on or about August 1, 2014. 

Direct Communications provides voice and Internet services in both Missouri and Oregon today. The company will absorb the TDS Telecom markets into two existing ILEC operating companies, New Florence Telephone Co. in Missouri and Oregon Tel in Oregon. Local TDS Telecom Field Service employees will transfer to the new respective companies as part of the agreement.

“Direct Communications is a lot like TDS Telecom, building their business through acquisition. They were looking to expand and contacted us to see if we’d be willing to sell. We evaluate every opportunity and make decisions based on what is best for our company and our customers alike,” said Group President of Marketing Sales and Customer Service at TDS Telecom Jim Butman.

TDS Telecom, the seventh largest local exchange telephone company in the U.S., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. TDS Telecom provides 1.1 million connections to high-speed Internet, phone, and TV entertainment services to customers in more than a hundred rural, suburban, and metropolitan communities. TDS Telecom offers businesses the latest communications solutions, including: VoIP (managedIP Hosted) phone service, dedicated high-speed Internet and hosted-managed services. Visit tdstelecom.com or tdsbusiness.com.

TDS Telecom, headquartered in Madison, Wis., operates OneNeck® IT Solutions LLC and TDS Baja Broadband LLC. Combined, the company employs 3,100 people.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. [NYSE: TDS], a Fortune 500® company, provides wireless; cable and wireline broadband, TV and voice; and hosted and managed services to approximately 5.8 million customers nationwide through its subsidiaries TDS Telecom and U.S. Cellular®. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, Telephone and Data Systems employs 10,600 people. Visit teldta.com.