The Missouri-based parent of Fidelity Cablevision purchased the Lawton, Okla., cable system with about 20,000 video subscribers from Lawton Cablevision, the companies said.
RBC Daniels represented Lawton Cablevision, a locally owned business that had the franchise since 1968.
Fidelity Cablevision, of Sullivan, Mo., has systems there and in, Rolla, Salem and Lebanon, Mo., and is launching video service in the New Haven, Gerald and Owensville communities in the state. Parent Fidelity Communications is owned by the John T. Davis family.
“We’re excited to be acquiring an established, up-to-date system in a large market with tremendous potential,” Fidelity senior vice president John Colbert said in a release. “With both businesses being privately-owned and customer-oriented, the transition will be almost transparent to local subscribers.”
Lawton Cablevision manager Bill Drewry said: “We worked very hard to find the right buyer, one with customer service and satisfaction as a priority. Fidelity is a fine company with a proven track record in the cable business.”
Lawton Cablevision was rebuilt to 870-megahertz capacity in 2000-2002 and has about 20,000 video subscribers, 4,000 broadband customers and 500 phone customers.
The Lawton system’s penetration of homes passed last fall was 53% in video, 13% in digital video and 12% in cable modems. High-definition and VoIP penetration is 5% and 2% respectively, it said.
Lawton has a 15-year franchise agreement ending in February 2015.
