Telecommunications service provider Vision Net has acquired iConnect Montana, a provider of network connectivity and data center services in the state.

Bringing data center functionality closer to the edge — and thereby reducing latency — was an important element of the acquisition, according to a press release. This undoubtedly is an especially important asset in a rural state of wide open spaces such as Montana.

The companies – which had a working relationship before the acquisition – both have small Montana telecom cooperative roots. iConnect Montana was founded in 1999 by three telephone cooperatives. Vision Net was founded four years earlier by five telephone cooperatives.