Bright House Networks, the country's sixth largest provider of cable systems, will acquire Telovations, a Tampa-based hosted VoIP and UC solution provider, the two companies confirmed this week.

Bright House, which serves about 2.5 million customers across the country, offers video, high-speed data and voice services to homes and businesses. What it gets from Telovations is a well-rounded communications-as-a-service portfolio that includes hosted PBX and managed SIP trunking.

Leo Cloutier, senior vice president of corporate strategy and business development, said in a statement that Bright House will combine Telovations' hosted offerings with its fiber-optic network and managed services.

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Following the acquisition's close, expected to be within 60 days, Telovations will report into Craig Cowden, Bright House senior vice president, Network Engineering & Operations and Enterprise Solutions.

The acquisition is part of an ongoing consolidation trend in the telecom channel and is hardly the first instance of a major service provider or cable company buying up a VoIP or cloud-based UC player. Back in 2010, Comcast acquired New Global Telecom, a key move in Comcast's build-up of its business-oriented VoIP portfolio.

PUBLISHED NOV. 27, 2012