By Rebecca Sodergren, Originally Published in Mountaintop Eagle
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About a year and a half after announcing expansion into Mountaintop, Loop Internet has been sold to New York-based Greenlight Networks.
Greenlight personnel have said that Loop customers will see no changes in service or costs.
Loop Internet was founded under a different name in 2016 by Mountaintop native Chris Hacken.
He started the company with internet and phone services in Wilkes-Barre and downtown Scranton and expanded from there.
Michele Sadwick, Greenlight’s chief revenue officer, said the Loop Internet name will remain in place, so those Loop Internet trucks seen around the mountain will still bear the Loop name.
“We have started the process of co-branding,” she said. “The community will see both Loop and Greenlight brands in the area and on all the vehicles.”
Greenlight already employed 187 team members and brought in 58 more Loop employees during the acquisition. Jason Wasmanski, formerly Loop’s general manager, is now vice president of operations for Greenlight’s central region.
Sadwick also said Greenlight is in the process of expanding its availability within Mountaintop and surrounding neighborhoods.
“For now, Loop customers will continue as they are,” she said. “The teams work together to ensure a seamless integration.
“There are no anticipated changes impacting Loop customers at this time.”
While still at the helm, Hacken promoted Loop by stating that he could provide faster, more reliable service at lower costs through fiber optic cables in place of the older copper lines used by many service providers.
Before expanding into Mountaintop last year, Hacken said it seemed like Mountaintop was “always a decade behind in terms of infrastructure” when he was growing up here. That experience propelled him to find a better method of delivering internet service.
On Oct. 1, Greenlight announced the completion of its acquisition of Loop, initially announced July 8.
Greenlight first expanded into Pennsylvania in April by offering its own service in two new markets, Dickson City and Chambersburg. The acquisition of Loop expands Greenlight’s presence in Pennsylvania.
Greenlight was founded in 2011 and serves nearly 250,000 homes and 10,000 small businesses in New York, Pennsylvania and the Baltimore area.
Greenlight (greenlightnetworks.com) advertises residential plans offering between 500 megabits per second (supporting five to 10 smart devices and one to two residents) and 8 gigabytes (supporting more than 45 smart devices). Loop Internet still has its website at loopinternet.com, with a Greenlight banner across the top of the homepage.
Loop’s homepage advertises packages between 300 megabytes per second ($30 a month) and 10 gigabytes per second ($240 per month).
