NASHVILLE, Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Calling it a “perfect fit that will help us provide enhanced services for our customers and further bridge the digital divide,” Nashville-based Education Networks of America (ENA) today announced the completion of its merger with TeleQuality Communications (TeleQuality) of San Antonio, Texas.

Under the merger, the combined company will maintain its offices in both cities while providing key communications services with high-quality broadband Internet connectivity to community anchor institutions (CAIs) such as schools, libraries, and rural healthcare systems that provide community services especially to vulnerable populations. TeleQuality will operate as a stand-alone subsidiary of ENA. The merged companies will have more than 250 employees.

“This is a new and exciting endeavor for all of us, and we know that coming together will serve to benefit our customers and those who depend on us for connectivity, communications, and cloud services,” said David Pierce, CEO of ENA. “Our shared knowledge, passion, and customer focus will propel us forward and help us grow the needed and essential connectivity services we provide to our customers around the country.”

Backed by private equity firm, ZMC, ENA is a national market leader in providing transformative connectivity, communication, cloud, and security services to education institutions and libraries that enable student achievement, operational efficiencies, and future capabilities, serving over 5,000 locations. TeleQuality provides similar connectivity and communication services to rural healthcare networks and organizations, serving more than 1,000 locations nationally.

According to the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, 39 percent of rural Americans lack access to 25 Mbps broadband service, the minimum technical parameter of broadband. In contrast, only four percent of urban residents lack equivalent access, creating a vast digital divide among our nation’s citizenry. This merger will enable ENA and TeleQuality to leverage their respective resources and expertise to help address this gap by delivering high-capacity broadband to America’s rural CAIs.

Tim Koxlien, who will retain his title as TeleQuality CEO said of the merger, “Together with ENA, TeleQuality Communications is in a better position to assist our healthcare clients and solve their broadband problems. Bridging the digital divide is critical to delivering top notch quality care in rural areas. This merger will enable us to help our customers deliver the absolute best healthcare they can to the communities they serve, and we could not be more excited about what the future holds.”

Pierce and Koxlien pointed to the merged company’s focus on helping to bridge the digital divide while bringing enhanced services to its customers as a major impetus for the merger.

“As companies that have both been instrumental in providing connectivity and communication services to CAIs, we share the same goal of making high-quality broadband and related technologies available to as many of them as possible. It’s not just a job for us and our companies, but our joint mission of providing the necessary tools for our customers and their communities to thrive,” they said.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About Education Networks of America:

Education Networks of America® (ENA) delivers transformative technology solutions supported by exceptional customer care to education and library communities across the nation. Since 1996, we have worked with our customers to design and engineer high-capacity and future-ready broadband, Wi-Fi/LAN, communication, cloud, and security solutions. For more information, please visit www.ena.com, call 866-615-1101, or e-mail info@ena.com.

About TeleQuality Communications, Inc.:

TeleQuality Communications Inc. (TQCI) is a leading provider of quality telecommunications and network connectivity products and services to rural healthcare facilities. Since 1999, TQCI and its division, Rural Health Telecom℠, have been designing and supplying organizations with cost-effective, custom network solutions to connect multiple business locations to each other, business partners, and the internet. TeleQuality’s technology solutions enable healthcare providers to take advantage of emerging healthcare technologies that increase access and lower the cost of healthcare. For more information, please visit www.telequality.com or call 219-408-0388.