Cox Communications is buying the remaining interest in the fiber provider Unite Private Networks (UPN). The transaction is expected to close by June 30. And then Cox plans to combine UPN with its Segra assets to create a new standalone company.
Since 2016, Cox has owned a majority stake in UPN, which is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.
UPN provides fiber-optic communications infrastructure services to enterprises and other large organizations. Its service offerings include dark and lit fiber, private line, optical Ethernet, internet access, FiberVoice, DDoS Protection, Cloud Connect and SD-WAN. UPN currently serves over 300 communities across 21 states, with 12,000 fiber route miles and 9,500 end customer sites.
UPN is also one of the largest providers of fiber WAN services to K-12 school districts in the U.S, serving more than 250 school districts, connecting nearly 2 million students.
Segra
In 2021, Cox purchased the commercial services segment of Segra, a privately-held fiber infrastructure and business services provider.
As of 2021, the Segra assets provided fiber to enterprise and carrier customers in nine states in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S.
Today, Cox Communications President Mark Greatrex stated, “We will bring UPN and Segra together to create a new, stand-alone company that continues to offer our customers a broad portfolio of commercial business services.”
Segra CEO Kevin Hart will lead the new company as CEO, and Jason Adkins, UPN CEO, will report to Hart as president of the new company.
Since the deal with Unite hasn’t yet closed, Cox declined to say what the name of the new combined company would be and whether employees of Segra and/or Unite would be asked to move to a new location.