FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield-based communications company Natel went through a major change in 2022 when it was acquired by Liberty Communications of West Liberty.

The new owners have decided to run the businesses as separate entities with their own names, though Natel Broadband is now known simply as Natel. The acquisition of Natel by Liberty Communications was finalized in October of last year. Liberty Communications CEO Justin Stinson said in a news release at the time that he was pleased to be taking on an exceptional local provider with a “growth minded leadership team.”

“We feel that the combination of our two companies will allow us to aggressively reach new customers, expand our product portfolio and grow as a unified organization focused on the best telecommunications services for residents and businesses in the communities we serve,” said Stinson.

Liberty Communications is a much older company, having been founded more than 100 years ago as a telephone provider to serve West Branch and West Liberty. It has been owned by the Melick family since 1907.

Natel Broadband was founded in 1996 by a group of four local businessmen including Mike Schill, who was the company’s president until last year. Natel is especially strong in providing rural internet services, and serves customers in five main communities and stretches across 12 counties.

Katherine Morris, community relations specialist with Natel, said the staffs at the two companies felt they were similar, and that both would benefit from the merger.

“We’re both family owned, and we’re both community minded,” Morris said. “We had a lot of the same goals. We thought this would be beneficial for everybody, including our communities.”

Jon Kenney, Liberty’s director of growth and operations, said Fairfield and the surrounding area has many families who are underserved regarding internet service.

“That’s been a priority at Liberty, to make sure customers are taken care of,” Kenney said. “This will allow us to serve this underserved markets with high-speed broadband.”

One of the big projects that Liberty is inheriting is Natel’s plan to bring broadband internet to 2,600 rural residences in Jefferson County. Natel won a grant from the state through Empower Rural Iowa to install high-speed wireless internet in Jefferson, Henry and Appanoose counties. Kenney said the company plans to finish the project in three years. After Liberty installs the requisite towers and other equipment, all rural residents of these three counties will have the option of high-speed internet.

Bill Morris, Natel’s outside plant manager, said providing internet and phone lines to rural customers has been the company’s “bread and butter” for the last 20 years. However, providing internet in rural areas required establishing a “line of sight” between a home and a communication tower. But the line of sight could be obscured by trees or the surrounding topography, which meant it was difficult to provide internet to certain rural residents. Bill Morris said that’s about to change.

“Our new equipment, which is part of this government funding, doesn’t need line of sight anymore,” Bill said.

“It’s going to change the game,” Katherine added.