Dominion has signed a definitive agreement to sell 100 percent of its Dominion Telecom unit to a subsidiary of Elantic Networks Inc., which is expected to enter into a management agreement with Cavalier Telephone LLC to operate the business after the transaction is completed. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Dominion said it expects to take a loss of up to $30 million related to the sale.
The sale, which is expected to close in the second quarter, is subject to review or approval by the Federal Communications Commission and regulators in 11 states.
Dominion, headquartered in Richmond, Va., is one of the nation's largest producers of energy. The March 2003 issue of XCHANGE reported that while other carriers were running for cover in 2002, Dominion Telecom rode out the storm, increasing its top line revenue by 30 percent, growing its customer base by approximately 30 percent and upping its network miles by about 124 percent. Gregg T. Kamper, senior vice president and general manager, said in that article that Dominion Tel owed much of its financial stability to its parent Dominion, which provided financial assistance and helped it make contact with other sources to get funded through 2005.
Dominion Tel has traditionally focused on private line, point-to-point services. The company also offers dark fiber on limited routes. Last year the telecom company, a "super-regional player" connecting Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities back to Tier 1 markets, was pushing into metro services and expanding to serve businesses in additional to its traditional service provider customer base.
