(Blair, NE) – Great Plains Communications and Ritter Communications recently announced plans to merge under the Rightfiber brand.
Great Plains CEO Todd Foje says they started talking about a possible merger last fall.
“We started kind of thinking about what all it would take to accomplish it, and what the pros and cons would be, so to speak, and certainly the pros were substantial,” Foje said Tuesday on WRBI’s The Daily Pod.
He added familiar elements to Southeastern Indiana customers will stay the same after the merger is finalized.
“We’re not planning on making any changes in local representation, and offices will remain open as they are today,” Foje said. “I don’t think customers will see, really, any negative impact. And the positive impact is that there will be a slightly larger company that will be anticipating and serving their needs going forward. We’re still going to be very much focused on our communities.”
The deal would create one of the largest privately held fiber broadband platforms in the United States, connecting more than 300,000 homes and businesses across more than 400 communities in 20 states through a 28,000-mile regional fiber network.
Great Plains is headquartered in Blair, Nebraska; Ritter is based in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Ritter’s current CEO, Heath Simpson, will lead the combined company.
Foje, who has served as Great Plains CEO for 18 years, is moving out of day-to-day responsibilities and into an Executive Chairman role.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval, which is expected in either late August or early September.
Click here to listen to the interview with Todd Foje in its entirety.
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