BR Telephone purchased

The Benton Ridge Telephone Co.'s shareholders have approved the sale of the company and its subsidiaries to Cequel III, a St. Louis-based investment and management firm in the telecommunications industry. Pending regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022, Benton Ridge Telephone reported. The purchase price was not disclosed. "The demand for reliable, high-speed broadband services has intensified over the past two years, driven by a shift in how people work, learn, and are entertained. This has resulted in an unprecedented focus on the ubiquitous delivery of broadband to all Americans, and a sense of urgency to deliver faster and more reliable services than are available in many rural areas today," said Chris Daniels, chief executive officer of Benton Ridge Telephone. "Cequel III will help fuel the continued expansion of rural broadband services provided through our Watch Communications and Community Fiber Solutions (CFS) subsidiaries." Watch has been aggressively expanding its high-speed broadband services and areas of coverage since mid-2019 and has increased subscribers and revenue by 62% and 82% respectively, Daniels said. Both Watch and CFS are heavily investing in the upgrade of their network infrastructure to enable the reliable and consistent delivery of broadband services to all customers over the next two years, he said. "We're committed to bringing advanced, dependable broadband services to underserved, rural communities," said Jerry Kent, chief executive officer of Cequel III.