Shenandoah Telecommunications Company and its subsidiaries (Shentel) provide broadband services through its fiber-optic and cable networks to customers in some contiguous states in the eastern United States.
The company's services include broadband internet, video, and voice; high-speed Ethernet, dark fiber leasing; and managed network services. The company owns an extensive regional network with approximately 16,800 route miles of fiber.
Shentel provides broadband internet, video, and voice s...
Shenandoah Telecommunications Company and its subsidiaries (Shentel) provide broadband services through its fiber-optic and cable networks to customers in some contiguous states in the eastern United States.
The company's services include broadband internet, video, and voice; high-speed Ethernet, dark fiber leasing; and managed network services. The company owns an extensive regional network with approximately 16,800 route miles of fiber.
Shentel provides broadband internet, video, and voice services to residential and commercial customers in portions of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Delaware, Ohio, and Indiana via fiber optics under the brand name of Glo Fiber, and hybrid fiber coaxial cable under the brand name of Shentel. Shentel also leases dark fiber and provides Ethernet and wavelength fiber optic services to enterprise and wholesale customers throughout the entirety of its service area under the brand name of Glo Fiber Business. Shentel’s Broadband business also provides voice and DSL telephone services as a Rural Local Exchange Carrier (‘RLEC’) to customers in Shenandoah County and portions of adjacent counties in Virginia, as well as in Ross County and portions of adjacent counties in Ohio. The company served approximately 261,000 Revenue Generating Units (‘RGUs’) as of December 31, 2024.
Acquisition of Horizon Acquisition Parent LLC
On April 1, 2024, Shentel completed its previously announced acquisition of Horizon Acquisition Parent LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (‘Horizon’), pursuant to the terms of an Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated October 24, 2023, by and among Shentel, Horizon, and the sellers set forth on the signature pages thereto (each, a ‘Seller’ and collectively, the ‘Sellers’) and the other parties thereto (as amended by the First Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated April 1, 2024, the ‘Merger Agreement’).
Sale of Shentel’s Tower Portfolio
On March 29, 2024, Shenandoah Mobile, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, completed the initial closing of its previously disclosed sale of substantially all of Shentel’s tower portfolio and operations (Tower Portfolio) to Vertical Bridge Holdco, LLC (the Tower Transaction). The Tower Portfolio represented substantially all of the assets and operations in Shentel’s previously reported Tower Reporting Segment and the Tower Transaction represented a strategic shift in the company’s business. Consequently, the Tower Portfolio has been reclassified as a discontinued operation.
Regulation
The company's operations are subject to regulation by the Federal Communications Commission (‘FCC’), the Virginia State Corporation Commission (‘VSCC’), the West Virginia Public Service Commission, the Maryland Public Service Commission, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the Kentucky Public Service Commission, the Ohio Public Utilities Commission, the Delaware Public Service Commission, and other federal, state, and local governmental agencies.
The FCC originally classified broadband Internet access services, such as those offered by the company, as an information service, which by law exempts the service from traditional common carrier communications laws and regulations. In 2015, the FCC determined that broadband Internet access services, such as those offered by the company, were a form of telecommunications service under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the ‘Communications Act’), and, on that basis, imposed rules (commonly referred to as ‘Net Neutrality’ rules) banning service providers from blocking access to lawful content, restricting data rates for downloading lawful content, prohibiting the attachment of non-harmful devices, giving special transmission priority to affiliates, and offering third parties the ability to pay for priority routing.
The company is subject to various federal and state laws intended to protect the privacy of end-users who subscribe to its services. For example, the Communications Act limits the company’s ability to collect, use, and disclose customers’ personally identifiable information for its cable television/video, voice, and Internet services. The company is required to file an annual certification of compliance with the FCC’s CPNI rules.
The company’s Voice over Internet Protocol (‘VoIP’) service arrangement utilizes different technology and is subject to many of the same rules and regulations applicable to traditional telephone service. Regulatory changes are being considered that could impact the company’s VoIP service. The FCC and state regulatory authorities have considered, for example, whether certain common carrier regulations traditionally applied to incumbent local exchange carriers (including RLECs) should be modified or reduced, and the extent to which common carrier requirements should be extended to VoIP providers. The FCC has required VoIP providers to comply with several regulations that apply to other telephone services, including 911 emergency services, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (‘CALEA’), Universal Service Fund (‘USF’) contribution, customer privacy and CPNI issues, number portability, network outage, rural call completion, disability access, battery backup, robocall mitigation, regulatory fees, and discontinuance of service.
The company has registered with, or obtained certificates or authorizations from, the FCC and the state regulatory authorities in those states in which it offers competitive voice services in order to ensure the continuity of its services and to maintain needed network interconnection arrangements.
Shenandoah Telephone Company (‘Shenandoah Telephone’) is a RLEC serving Shenandoah County, Virginia, and portions of the Virginia counties of Rockingham, Frederick, and Augusta. The Chillicothe Telephone Company (‘Chillicothe Telephone’) is a RLEC serving Ross County, Ohio. Shenandoah Telephone’s rates for local exchange service, intrastate toll service, and intrastate access charges are subject to the review and approval of the VSCC.
Shenandoah Telephone participates in the access revenue pools administered by the FCC-supervised National Exchange Carrier Association (‘NECA’), which collects and distributes the revenues from interstate access charges that long-distance carriers pay the company for originating and terminating interstate calls over its network. Shenandoah Telephone also participates in some NECA tariffs that govern the rates, terms, and conditions of its interstate access offerings.
The company is subject to FCC rules that require telecommunications carriers to make emergency 911 services available to their subscribers, including enhanced 911 services that convey the caller’s telephone number and detailed location information to emergency responders.
The company offers long-distance service to its customers through its subsidiary, Shenandoah Cable Television, LLC. The company is required to offer long-distance service through a subsidiary other than Shenandoah Telephone, to disclose its long-distance rates on a website, to maintain geographically averaged rates, to pay contributions to the Universal Service Fund (USF), and make other mandatory payments based on its long-distance revenues, and to comply with other filing and regulatory requirements, including enhanced recordkeeping and quarterly reporting obligations, and being subject to greater oversight. The company is required to offer long distance service through a subsidiary other than Shenandoah Telephone, to disclose its long distance rates on a website, to maintain geographically averaged rates, to pay contributions to the USF and make other mandatory payments based on its long-distance revenues, and to comply with other filing and regulatory requirements, including enhanced recordkeeping and quarterly reporting obligations and being subject to greater oversight.
History
Shenandoah Telecommunications Company was founded in 1902.