One Eighty Expands Operation

Spokane-based One Eighty Communications has agreed to purchase a majority stake of Western Technology Partners, a Billings, Mont., telecommunications provider.

One Eighty President Greg Green said Western’s Internet capability will expand the services his company can sell customers when its network is turned on in February.

Retaining Western President Chris Dimock and his staff will also create an immediate presence for the company, which will be renamed One Eighty Communications Montana.

“He’s very well networked in the community,” Green said.

Dimock noted Western is already laying fiberoptic cable in Billings. With the additional resources One Eighty can provide, he said, the combined companies can take the same technology into surrounding areas and states.

“We’re looking forward to rapid growth,” Dimock said.

Green said the acquisition should close next month, shortly after the expected closure of an investment in One Eighty by Avista Corp.

One Eighty, which Green founded in August, will then be renamed Avista Communications.

Dimock formed Western in 1995. He had been an adjunct professor at Rocky Mountain College in Billings and an engineer for Digital Equipment Corp.