Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 11:31AM Staurulakis and King to Present at NTCA Winter Convention in Dallas
February 9, 2010 | Manchester, NH – Leo Staurulakis, chairman, and Bill King, president and managing principal, of JSI Capital Advisors, LLC will present “RLEC Mergers and Other Solutions – Is It Time?” at the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association’s Winter Convention being held February 13 – 16, 2011 at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel in Dallas, Texas. The session will focus on the changing regulatory, competitive and technological landscape effecting rural and independent telecommunications providers and explore cooperative mergers, acquisitions and federations as a strategy for gaining scale and sustaining viability.
“Telephone cooperatives need to consider horizontal and vertical mergers, acquisitions and federations as a way of gaining scale and expanding core competencies,” said Staurulakis. “Advocating or even discussing cooperative mergers has, in the past, been considered all but sacrilegious by many in the industry. But the pace of change and the enormity of the challenge facing the industry elevate the need to have an open and frank discussion of the need for industry consolidation to sustain our future.”
“The owners and management of small telephone companies need to understand how market forces are dramatically changing the communications industry from every direction. Over the next few years, the NTCA and other industry advocates will be working to coordinate efforts and sustain and protect the industry’s sources of regulatory support,” said King. “But even the most optimistic advocates acknowledge future regulatory support will decline. That, coupled with the likelihood that competitive and technological changes will further erode the customer base of traditional telephone companies, underscore the threat facing those who fail to adequately anticipate and prepare for what is coming.”
Participating as guest speakers during the session, which will be presented on Sunday, February 13 at 9:30 – 11:30am and on Monday, February 14 at 2:00 – 4:00pm, will be Levoy Knowles and Tim Hills. Knowles is the president and ceo of Telecom Management Services, an innovative management services venture between Ben Lomand Rural Telephone Cooperative and West Kentucky & Tennessee Rural Telephone Cooperative. Hills oversaw the recent merger of Central Indiana Power and Hancock Telecom and serves as the president and ceo of combined entity. Knowles and Hills will share with the audience their insight and the reasons behind their cooperatives’ recent acquisition efforts.
