Xfone acquires Texas carrier

Competitive carrier Xfone has agreed to acquire West Texas carrier NTS Communications for $42 million.

Based in Jackson, Miss., publicly held Xfone operates in the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel. The majority of its revenue today comes from the U.K., while nearly a third comes from the U.S. The NTS acquisition would shift that balance, however, making the U.S. Xfone’s largest market.

Twenty-five-year-old NTS, based in Lubbock, Texas, offers a mix of local and long-distance voice, broadband, video and private-line service to about 47,500 residential and business customers. It is on track to report about $68 million in revenue this year and more than $9 million in earnings, according to Xfone.

Xfone reported about $23 million in revenue for the first half of this year. But with the addition of NTS, the company expects its annual revenue to exceed $114 million.

Xfone is currently trying to secure debt with which to finance the acquisition, the company said today.