Grande Communications Networks, LLC is an American telecommunications company, based in

San Marcos, Texas San Marcos () is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city is a part of the Greater Austin, Greater Austin Metropolitan Area. San Marcos's limits extend into Caldwell County, Texas, Caldwell and Guadalupe County, T ...

, that uses a fiber optic and cable network to offer broadband services. The company was established in 1999 when it was the recipient of the largest round of venture capital funding in Texas. Grande delivers

internet access Internet access is a facility or service that provides connectivity for a computer, a computer network, or other network device to the Internet, and for individuals or organizations to access or use applications such as email and the World Wide ...

, local and long-distance

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

service and

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previo ...

over its own network to nine different markets in Texas. Grande Communications serves as the primary provider of cable services for dormitories on the campuses of

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

, University of the Incarnate Word,

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

and the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. It is controlled by

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

TPG Capital TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American private equity firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. TPG manages investment funds in growth capital, venture capital, public equity, and debt investments. The firm in ...

through its affiliate Patriot Media Consulting. Grande Communications is available to an estimated 1.1 million people, making it the 16th largest provider of cable broadband in the U.S. by coverage area.

Acquisitions and mergers

On May 22, 2017

RCN Corporation RCN Corporation, originally Residential Communications Network, founded in 1993 and based in Princeton, New Jersey, was the first American facilities-based ("overbuild") provider of bundled cable telephony, cable television, and internet s ...

, Wave Broadband and Grande Communications announced the combination of the three companies to create the sixth largest cable operator across seven of the ten top US cities. On February 24, 2020, RCN Corporation announced its planned merger of enTouch Systems, a provider of high-speed internet, video, voice and home security services to the Houston area. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2020. Upon closing, the transaction will add approximately 22,000 customers. On November 2, 2020, the US cable operator group of RCN, Grande, Wave and enTouch, collectively known as Astound Broadband, was sold by TPG Capital and Patriot Media Management to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners for $8.1 billion, including debt.

References

External links

* {{San Marcos, Texas Internet service providers of the United States San Marcos, Texas Cable television companies of the United States Telecommunications companies established in 1999 Companies based in Texas TPG Capital companies 1999 establishments in Texas