Horvath Towers Signs National Build To Suit With Open Range Communications
South Bend, IN - Horvath Towers, a leading tower developer, has signed a national Build to Suit Agreement with Open Range Communications (ORC), headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colo.
In January 2009, Open Range Communications received a $100 million investment from JPMorgan's private equity arm, One Equity Partners (OEP).
This investment was a prerequisite to a $267 million Broadband Access Loan from the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Utilities Program (RDUP). Within the next five years, Open Range, through the use of WiMAX technology, plans to deliver wireless broadband to more than 500 un-served and underserved communities within the United States.
Horvath Towers will partner with ORC by developing towers sites in the Mountain Region, Midwest and Southeast enabling the deployment of the Open Range network.
"Not only is 4G WiMAX leading edge technology, it is the best way to rapidly build and deploy a high-speed broadband network in areas of limited infrastructure," said Keith Paglusch, executive vice president of Open Range Communications. "This partnership with Horvath Towers enables Open Range to deploy high-speed broadband Internet to millions of Americans in several regions in the country where Horvath will support us."
"We are looking forward to working with Open Range over the next five years to provide a critical component of the infrastructure needed to bring broadband services to the rural communities across the country," said Jackie Horvath, CEO of Horvath Towers.
Horvath Communications, Inc. was founded in South Bend, Indiana in 1996 by Jackie Horvath. Since the company's inception, Horvath (HCI) has grown from owning a few towers in northern Indiana to owning and developing multiple tower sites throughout the country. These towers are consistently rated among the highest for occupancy in their respective regions.
Horvath Towers is financed by Peppertree Capital. Peppertree Capital, based in Cleveland, Ohio, is a private equity fund focused on growth equity in the telecommunications, media and recurring services.
Open Range is a broadband wireless provider using WiMAX technology to deliver wireless broadband to un-served and underserved American communities. Open Range plans to deliver portable and eventually mobile voice and Internet services to customers within its robust WiMAX footprint. In January 2009, Open Range announced a $100 million investment by One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase and the closing of a Broadband Access Loan previously approved by the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Utilities Program (RDUP) for $267 million.
The combined funding will allow Open Range to build 4G WiMAX networks in 546 communities in 17 states where the Company will offer high-speed Internet and voice services to approximately six million people. For more information, visit www.openrangecomm.com.
SOURCE: Horvath Towers