en.Wedoany.com Reported - Ritter Communications and Great Plains Communications, both co-owned by private equity firm Grain Management, announced their merger last month, forming a new company named Rightfiber. In an interview with Telecompetitor, Rightfiber CEO Heath Simpson discussed the factors driving the merger, the company's growth plans, and considerations for corporate rebranding.
Simpson stated that the merger between Ritter Communications and Great Plains Communications was driven by multiple reasons. He noted that scale is crucial in the telecommunications industry, as it enables better and more extensive services for customers and communities. Although the two companies serve different regions, they offer similar services. Simpson described them as "long-established, highly successful enterprises with over a century of history," and said the merger into Rightfiber is a "growth story," where scale helps apply each other's best practices to complementary geographies.
Since the merger was just announced and requires regulatory approvals before finalization, the new company is still in the planning phase. Currently, Rightfiber's plans include expanding Ritter's 7 Gbps internet speeds and Great Plains' whole-home Wi-Fi services to cover 20 states. Simpson emphasized that one of Rightfiber's commitments is to maintain a local identity while growing, and both Ritter and Great Plains need to uphold their respective reputations. The long-term operation of the company relies on caring for employees, actively engaging in community activities, and continuous innovation, with those answering the phones being people who live and work in these communities.
Rightfiber hired an agency to build a brand that reflects its goals and growth. Simpson advised any company undergoing a rebrand to do the same, noting that the process requires someone like a shepherd or guide, which is crucial because the brand matters to employees, corporate culture, customers, and communities. Although Ritter and Great Plains are established companies that evolved from local telephone companies, neither name adequately conveys the current scope of services. The merger served as a catalyst to move the company forward, but even without it, both companies might have considered new names to reflect years of growth.
The name Rightfiber was chosen based on Ritter Communications' existing service name RightFiber. Simpson said it describes the company's business and approach: providing the right products and services at the right price to customers, being present in communities alongside them, proactively correcting mistakes if they occur, with fiber being the medium to achieve this. Although Rightfiber uses some hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) broadband, the company name emphasizes that fiber is at the core of everything it does, representing the best and future-proof solution.
The new Rightfiber logo features several characteristics, such as the lighter font for "fiber" to suggest thin strands, and the logo pattern can be seen as interlocking networks, a roof, a shield representing network security, or a series of six 9s (e.g., 99.9999% reliability). Simpson, who previously served as CEO of Ritter Communications, said he feels "proud and humbled" to be CEO of Rightfiber during this growth period, believes in the company's mission to serve communities, customers, and employees, loves connecting people, and is excited to do so on a larger scale.
