American Broadband gets growing with purchase of BNT Broadband fiber assets

Rural operator American Broadband purchased the fiber assets of Nebraska provider BNT Broadband as part of what executives characterized as an aggressive growth strategy. American Broadband and its family of brands (including Cameron Communications and TelAkaska), provide voice, video and broadband service to rural communities across Nebraska, Missouri, Alaska, Louisiana and Texas. Chief Strategy Officer Jim Patterson stated the operator currently passes just under 60,000 homes and has customer relationships with about 60 to 65 percent of those. While the company is mainly focused on upgrading existing copper to GPON fiber, Patterson said it is “always looking for ways to grow.” The CSO said the deal for BNT's fiber assets was appealing because the operator has both a fiber construction and service arm and its network architecture is similar to American Broadband’s other assets in Nebraska. American Broadband is also working to strengthen its leadership team, announcing the hire of former Sprint and T-Mobile executive Tim Johnson as president and general manager for its Nebraska operation. Johnson was most recently in charge of technology procurement at T-Mobile, having joined the company following its merger with Sprint. He previously managed wholesale operations at Sprint and oversaw the implementation of Sprint’s voice over IP offering for cable partners.