XML 55 R11.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.19.3
ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019
ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS  
ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS

1.ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS

The Company is a holding company that, directly and through its subsidiaries, owns and operates telecommunications businesses in North America, Bermuda and the Caribbean as well as a renewable energy business in India. The Company was incorporated in Delaware in 1987, began trading publicly in 1991 and spun off more than a half of its operations to stockholders in 1998. Since that time, the Company has engaged in many strategic acquisitions and investments to help grow its operations using the cash generated from its established operating units to re-invest in its existing businesses and to make strategic investments in earlier stage businesses. The Company looks for businesses that offer growth opportunities or potential strategic benefits but require additional capital investment in order to execute on their business plans. The Company holds controlling positions with respect to some of its investments and non-controlling positions in others. These strategic investments frequently offer a product and service development component in addition to the prospects of generating returns on its invested capital.

The Company has identified three operating segments to manage and review its operations and to facilitate investor presentations of its results. Those three operating segments are as follows:

US Telecom. In the United States, the Company offers wireless and wireline services. The Company offers wholesale wireless voice and data roaming services to national, regional, local and selected international wireless carriers in rural markets located principally in the Southwest United States. The Company also provides retail wireless and other infrastructure services in certain areas where we offer those wholesale services and wholesale long-distance voice wireline services to telecommunications carriers.

International Telecom. The Company’s international wireless services include voice and data services to retail customers in Bermuda, Guyana and the US Virgin Islands. The Company’s international wireline services include voice and data services in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guyana and the US Virgin Islands, as well as video services in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the US Virgin Islands. In addition, the Company offers wholesale long distance voice services to other telecommunications carriers in the countries in which it offers international wireline services.

Renewable Energy.   In India, the Company provides distributed generation solar power to corporate, utility and municipal customers. Through November 6, 2018, the Company also provided distributed generation solar power in the United States in Massachusetts, California and New Jersey.

The following chart summarizes the operating activities of the Company’s principal subsidiaries, the segments in which the Company reports its revenue and the markets it served as of September 30, 2019:

Segment

   

Services

   

Markets

   

Tradenames

 

US Telecom

 

Wireless

 

United States (rural markets)

 

Choice, Choice NTUA Wireless, Commnet, WestNet, Geoverse

 

Wireline

 

United States

 

Essextel, Deploycom

International Telecom

 

Wireline

 

Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Guyana, US Virgin Islands

 

Fireminds, GTT+, One, Logic, Viya

 

Wireless

 

Bermuda, Guyana, US Virgin Islands

 

GTT+, One, Viya

Video Services

Bermuda, Cayman Islands, US Virgin Islands

Logic, One, Viya

Renewable Energy

Solar

India

Vibrant Energy

The Company actively evaluates potential acquisitions, investment opportunities and other strategic transactions, both domestic and international, that meet its return on investment and other criteria. In addition, the Company considers non-controlling investments in earlier stage businesses that it considers strategically relevant, and which may offer long-term growth potential for the Company, either individually, or as research and development businesses that can support the Company’s operating subsidiaries in new product and service development and offerings. The Company provides management, technical, financial, regulatory, and marketing services to its subsidiaries and typically receives a management fee equal to a percentage of their revenues which is eliminated in consolidation. For further information about the Company’s financial segments and geographical information about its operating revenues and assets, see Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report.