Delgado unit acquires Micronesian telecom firm

Delgado-owned Pacific Telecom Inc.’s said its Guam subsidiary PTI Pacifica has signed an asset purchase agreement with telecommunications firm IT&E for an undisclosed amount.

The deal, once completed, will make PTI the largest telecommunications company in Micronesia with estimated revenues of $70 million.

The purchase will combine IT&E’s cellular, long distance, Internet and business phone and data solutions in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) with those of PTI, which also provides CDMA and GSM cellular, long distance, data communications and fixed line services.

Pacific Telecom said it expects the deal to be consummated in three to six months.

“This is a winning combination for Micronesia. IT&E is a strong, locally owned company which has been a pioneer in Guam for decades.  IT&E’s history coupled with PTI’s own, as part of Verizon in the CNMI, bring new and exciting possibilities to our customers, employees and business partners,” said Ricardo Delgado whose family controls PTI and has Japanese trading giant Sumitomo Corp. as business partner in PTI.

PTI provides data communications and long distance services in Guam and publishes The CNMI Phone Book and The Guam Phone Book. 

“To be the leader means continuously providing customers with the most reliable, cost effective and modern network.  We have done just that in the CNMI, and we will follow the same recipe as we expand into Guam,” Delgado added.

For his part, IT&E president John M. Borlas said he is “comfortable turning the company over to a group with the same values and a long term commitment to the region. 

“Sumitomo’s sizeable investment in PTI as a strategic partner clearly is an indication of the confidence it placed on the company. Assuredly, this is a significant factor that played a huge role in our decision to consider PTI, particularly coming from Sumitomo who is one of the largest corporations in Japan,” he said.

“It was a good fit for PTI and IT&E since geographically there is not a great deal of overlap between the companies.  The combined strength of PTI, Sumitomo, and now together with IT&E, is undeniably a superb ingredient poised for success in promoting positive and robust growth for our civilian and military communities. Customers can expect to enjoy newer next generation technologies of products to become immediately more accessible as may be typically seen in Japan, Singapore, and other highly developed countries,” Borlas added.

The combined infrastructure and assets will allow PTI to offer the latest technology as well as a wider range of products and services to its customers in Guam and the CNMI.

Plans include a complete upgrade of the CDMA wireless platform in Guam, an expansion of the GSM platform  and the completion of a redundant microwave backbone throughout Guam, Rota, Tinian and Saipan.

In 2005, PTI purchased Verizon’s Guam business. A year later, Sumitomo Corp.  invested $25 million into PTI to become a long term strategic partner.

The Delgado family started Islacom which eventually merged into what is now one of the country’s biggest mobile phone business Globe Telecom.  The family, however, no longer has a stake in Globe Telecom.