Idaho Business Review
by Brad Iverson-Long
Two regional communications companies called Syringa are becoming one.
Syringa Networks, an internet and network provider for businesses, acquired Syringa Wireless, a wireless phone and data company in southern and eastern Idaho. Syringa Networks CEO Greg Lowe said the move allows the companies to integrate vertically to keep up with the rising demand for mobile data on smartphones and other devices.
“There is an explosion in the demand for data,” Lowe said. “We bring the fiber optic backbone that we own into play.”
Syringa Networks opened an office in Idaho Falls in 2011, in addition to its headquarters in Boise and an office in Utah, and has expanded its high-speed fiber optic network to include Pocatello as well as Blaine County and Canyon County.
“We’ve attached the cell phone directly to the cloud through one ownership group,” Lowe said.
The rising demand for data has been a major focus for national carriers including Verizon and AT&T. Lowe said the Syringa move would allow the company to continue offering customers unlimited mobile data plans with a good coverage network that spans from the Magic Valley to the Wyoming border.
Syringa Networks was founded in 2002 by 12 rural telephone companies. In 2006, five of those companies founded Syringa Wireless, which now has 12,500 customers. The acquisition could allow the wireless Syringa’s network to expand east and west. Lowe said three of the local telecoms that weren’t part of Syringa Wireless own wireless spectrum in Elmore County and western Wyoming.
Both companies will keep their name, which comes from the syringa, Idaho’s state flower known for its fragrant white blossoms. Syringa Networks has 75 employees while Syringa Wireless has 41. Scott Dike, formerly the marketing manager for Syringa Networks, will be the general manager for Syringa Wireless. Lowe said the acquisition won’t result in any other major staffing changes.