Cable TV franchise purchased

MontanaSKY buys Windjammer, plans fiber-optic connection

A deal completed Monday brings a new cable TV company to Libby and Troy.

Windjammer Cable and MontanaSky West, LLC, completed the deal that essentially transfers the franchise of the Libby and Troy cable TV systems to MontanaSky West. The deal, according to Founder and Chairman Frederick Weber, consists of about 1,400 customers in both communities.

Weber would not disclose the sale price, but industry standards put the sale at about $4.2 million.

“The whole deal was done mostly over the Internet,” admitted Weber on Tuesday, the day after the sale.

“The only folks who wanted to see us was the bankers. They got the very last nickel,” Weber mused.

Earlier this month, the Libby City Council approved a resolution that said it would support the transfer.

On Monday, that transfer was completed, and MontanaSky.TV will start transitioning those systems from what has been a revolving door of ownership of big cable systems during the last decade.

“Within about 90 days, customers will begin seeing our logos on their bills,” Weber said. He indicated the company has no intention of a price increase, and instead insisted on improving the quality the infusion of new ownership can expect.

“Our immediate plans are to continue our efforts to bring fiber-optic lines by August. We hope to light it up by then,” Weber said of the improvement in quality and speed for Internet and information systems.

Weber and MontanaSKY are nearly as local as a company can be, with offices in nearby Kalispell. The purchase is a partnership between MontanaSKY and CommunityTel, which with the purchase of the Libby and Troy franchises brings the company’s customer base to about 12,000.

Windjammer acquired the systems from industry heavyweight, Time-Warner, who picked up the television provider from bankrupt Adelphia.

MontanaSky.TV is part of the MontanaSky Networks system serving Flathead, Lake, Lincoln, Sanders and Glacier counties, as well as business broadband and cloud services state- and nationwide.

The MontanaSky West LLC deal was spearheaded by Weber, and Jay Wilson Preston, of CommmunityTel of Montana. MontanaSky.Net has been serving the Libby and Troy markets with Internet and cloud services since 1996.

  Preston’s firm provides not only Internet but cable TV and phone service in Western Montana.

   The new company’s first goal will to be fix the “Internet slow-down bottleneck” that has “plagued Libby and Troy for a long time,” Weber said.

  “We are so excited to add the cable systems to our network,” Weber said. “The first thing we do is finish the long-awaited fiber-optic line to Kalispell from Libby that will supply us with an unlimited supply of bandwidth, which will stop the periods of Internet slow-downs during peak periods and increase speeds to way over those available now or those speeds over phone line DSL,” Weber said.

   The company will then focus on improving the cable-TV offerings bringing more digital and HD channels.

   MontanaSky West is also a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) and is currently engineering the cable plant to provide voice services for residential and business customers.

   “For the first time in history, MontanaSky West will be able to offer our community a choice for telephone service,” said Weber.

   Currently, the only choice for voice service is from Frontier Communications.

   Windjammer customers will be receiving official notification of the buy-out and the office will be moving soon back to downtown Libby. There will be no immediate changes planned, said Weber, “because we

are totally dedicated to our customers and don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable in the ownership change in any way.”

   MontanaSky.TV’s new Website will be updated in the next few weeks to provide more information to the community.