Avista Corp. plans to merge its Avista Communications and Avista Fiber affiliates later this year, the Spokane-based company disclosed in its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week.


Avista Communications would be the surviving unit, according to the annual report.


Both businesses are very complementary, and the idea of merging them is being strongly considered, says Avista Communications spokeswoman Nancy Goodspeed. The present plan is to merge them, and because of the strong potential (to do that), we felt it was appropriate to disclose those plans in the annual report.


Details surrounding the potential merger havent been worked out yet, though, Goodspeed says. For instance, she says its way too early to know whether the merger will result in any layoffs or where in Spokane the combined companies would be located.


According to the annual report, Avista Communications, which was formed 14 months ago through Avista Corp.s acquisition of One Eighty Communications, of Spokane, would be given the added responsibility of designing, building, and managing metropolitan-area fiber-optic networksservices that currently are being handled by 4-year-old Avista Fiber.


Avista Fiber, which employs 17 people, occupies space at 159 S. Lincoln.


Avista Communications is a competitive local-exchange telecommunications service carrier that already provides local dial tone and high-speed Internet services to business customers via an advanced fiber-optic network and state-of-the-art switching technology. It employs a total of more than 80 people here and at its offices elsewhere.


Avista Communications target markets include underserved communities in the western U.S. with populations of under 500,000. The company already has agreed to build or lease fiber-optic networks and in some cases offer high-speed Internet access in six markets, including Yakima and Bellingham, Wash.; Coeur dAlene and Lewiston, Idaho; Billings, Mont.; and Medford, Ore. It expects to provide services in at least three more Pacific Northwest communities later this year, the annual report says.


Avista Communications headquarters are located in the Levy Building, at 118 N. Stevens in downtown Spokane, which also houses its network operations center for the Spokane region. It also has offices in Lewiston, Yakima, Bellingham, and Billings.


Goodspeed says that both Avista Communications and Avista Fiber currently are hiring additional workers.