LEWISTON — Combining Oxford Networks fiber-optic system and state-of-the art data centers with BayRing Communications’ business telephone system will make for a stronger company, according to company leaders.

The companies announced plans to merge Thursday. Oxford Networks President and CEO Craig Gunderson said the organizations are similar.

“We both sell to carrier customers — communications organizations, wireless providers and Internet service providers — who use our networks to get data to different locations,” Gunderson said. “This combination allows us to better serve those clients and be more relevant to all of them.”

It will create the largest competitive telecommunications provider in Northern New England, with about 2,000 miles of high-capacity fiber-optic network connected to 50,000 commercial buildings, four dedicated data centers and access to all other major hub data centers throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Oxford Networks is based in Lewiston and operates a fiber-optic network backbone from Bangor to Boston. In addition to the Lewiston headquarters and a Portland office, the company operates high-security data centers in Brunswick and Bangor.

The company is owned by Novacap, a Canadian private equity firm that purchased Oxford Networks a year ago.

“That transaction positioned us to grow, and this is another step toward growth,” Gunderson said.

Portsmouth-based BayRing Communications owns a proprietary high-capacity fiber network that extends from Portland to Boston and operates two data centers in Portsmouth. The company became one of the first local telephone carriers in New Hampshire and Southern Maine 17 years ago.

“This is one of the ways I know we can help our customers, particularly call center-focused businesses,” Gunderson said. “We both offer that kind of product now, but the years of experience and the capabilities they have with their own specific platform strengthens what we can do.”

The merger is being reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission and should be complete this fall. Gunderson and BayRing Communications President Ben Thayer said the shape of the company after the merger is still being determined, but neither expect local closures at this point.

“While we don’t expect changes to reporting locations on either side of the transaction, we do have a lot of work to do to determine what happens over the long haul,” Gunderson said.

“What we know is that the combination is a very good thing for both entities, but in terms of the full integration, that will take some time to determine,” Thayer said.

staylor@sunjournal.com