NewSouth, NuVox form NewCompany

Regional CLECs NewSouth Communications and NuVox Communications are merging to create a single entity serving 500,000 access lines across the Midwest and Southeast.

Billed as a "merger of equals," the new company will nevertheless take the NuVox name, reflecting the company’s expanded geographic scope. NewSouth CEO Jim Akerheim will take over the helm of the combined companies, while NuVox CEO David Solomon will head up the board. Its headquarters will remain in NewSouth’s offices in Greenville, S.C., and NuVox’s St. Louis HQ will become the Midwest regional office. Both carriers are privately held and revealed no financial details of the transaction.

"This merger makes good strategic sense," a spokeswoman for New South said. "NuVox has been successful in the Midwest, while NewSouth has been successful in the Southeast. We’re both strong in the markets where we overlap. Neither one of us is dealing with debt. This is the optimum time for a merger."

After the merger, NuVox will have a footprint encompassing 16 states, a customer base of 36,000 businesses and annual revenues exceeding $300 million. While the companies will have to integrate their networks, the spokeswoman said that their business models are similar enough that the transition will not be extreme. Both are non-dig facilities-based voice, data and integrated communications companies that lease fiber from the ILECs but operate their own Class 5 switches, New South using Lucent equipment and NuVox using Nortel gear. Both carriers have also begun packetizing portions of their network. NuVox now handles its long distance using Sonus softswitches.