Rural Cellular

Last updated
Rural Cellular
Company type Defunct
Industry Cellular Communications
Founded1990
Successor Verizon Wireless
Headquarters Alexandria, Minnesota, United States
Key people
Richard Eckstrand(CEO, President, & Director)
Products Cellular Telephone Service
Revenue125.7 Million in Q3 of 2003
Number of employees
1,001
Website https://web.archive.org/web/*/unicel.com

Rural Cellular was a telecommunications company that had run the Unicel mobile network. It operated in Midwest, Northeast, Northwest and the Southern regions of the United States and was bought by Verizon Wireless on January 25, 2009, for approximately $2.67 billion in cash and assumed debt. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Rick Ekstrand founded Rural Cellular Corporation (RCC) in 1990 through the partnership of 40 telephone companies that held five cellular licenses. [3] The company’s original service area was located north and west of St. Cloud, Minnesota. [3]

Following its initial public offering in February 1996, RCC pursued a series of acquisitions that expanded its directly marketed population served (POPs) from 600,000 to 6.4 million. [4]

On July 30, 2007, Verizon Wireless announced an agreement to acquire Rural Cellular Corporation in order to expand its network coverage. [5] At the time of the acquisition, RCC, headquartered in Alexandria, Minnesota, served 716,000 customers in New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Alabama, Mississippi, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Kansas, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. [5]

References

  1. ↑ "Verizon Wireless To Acquire Rural Cellular Corporation, Expand The Nation's Most Reliable Wireless Network". Verizon . 2007-07-30. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  2. ↑ "Rural Cellular Corporation: Private Company Information". Bloomberg. 2017-04-20. Archived from the original on 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  3. 1 2 Davis, Terry (2007-06-11). "Hutch native runs cell phone powerhouse". Crow River Media. TwinCities.com. Retrieved 2025-09-21.
  4. ↑ "Unicel enhances cellular service at the ski mountains". VermontBiz. 2006-04-05. Retrieved 2025-09-21.
  5. 1 2 "Verizon Wireless to buy Unicel parent". New Hampshire Business Review. 2007-07-31. Retrieved 2025-09-21.



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