Onvoy Makes Move to Purchase ANPI Parent Company ANZ Communications

A recent move in the technology sector may have some rural dwellers feeling good, as Onvoy LLC recent announced a definitive agreement by which it would acquire ANZ Communications, parent company of ANPI. ANPI offers a slate of solutions targeting the Rural Local Exchange Carrier (RLEC) market, and may mean a new boost in available services for those in rural locations.

ANPI services run the gamut as far as communications technology issues go, and include familiar things like long distance service, but also some much more exotic fare like hosted end office tools operating via unified communications as a service (UCaaS) options along with voice application peering (VAP) systems.

With Onvoy and ANPI's combined traffic volume, it becomes much easier to justify expansions in the network to support that traffic bulk. With a better infrastructure in place, RLECs get access to a slate of other new solutions that can be brought in, with improved termination reach and better call completion taking place as well. Since the systems can be had via portals, as well as REST application programming interfaces (APIs), the end result is greater accessibility and more services.

ANZ's chairman of the board, Bruce Hicks, commented “Since 1996 we have been a leader in serving rural America, with long distance services at the outset and an increasingly diverse array of products and services as our RLEC customers have continually sought to expand their offerings to end users. Joining forces with Onvoy now presents us with the opportunity to continue our mission of the past 20 years, while expanding our capabilities both in terms of services and reach.”

One thing is abundantly clear: rural areas are often underserved when it comes to communications technology, a development that's downright baffling given that rural areas are the areas that most need high-end communications systems. With such systems, ruralites can more effectively communicate with urban dwellers and thus deliver their own brand of value to these often much larger operations. Without that communications technology, ruralites are out of the loop and therefore utterly unable to gain access to modern commercial processes. A development like this, in which two companies' traffic levels combine, helps to provide necessary impetus to drive further improvement in the infrastructure. After all, telecom providers must make a profit, and without high traffic numbers, there's no sense in operating in areas where payback period might be measured in decades.

Onvoy buying ANZ may be the first step in a communications revolution for rural dwellers, and hopefully, will open up more access to these higher-end communications products in short order. 

Edited by Maurice Nagle