Back in May and June, I ran a series of posts looking at the various independent metro fiber companies in the marketplace within the USA. Well, a quarter has passed, and of course the world is not static, and quite a few companies have updated their numbers. I plan to update the list periodically, hopefully drawing out new information and even new companies (nope, I certainly don’t know them all even after a fair amount of digging) from helpful readers. With no further ado, here is the list:
| Metro Fiber Summary | |||
| Company | Route Miles | Buildings | Route Miles per Building |
| Black Rock Cable | 612 | 731 | 0.8 |
| Optimum Lightpath | 2,700 | 2,700 | 1.0 |
| Southern Light Fiber | 1,000 | 800 | 1.3 |
| American Fiber Systems | 1,000 | 540 | 1.9 |
| TW Telecom | 25,930 | 10,390 | 2.5 |
| AGL Networks | 565 | 211 | 2.7 |
| XO Communications | 9,000 | 3,000 | 3.0 |
| Level 3 | 26,000 | 7,600 | 3.4 |
| Abovenet | 4,500 | 1,300 | 3.5 |
| Integra Telecom | 2,200 | 580 | 3.8 |
| RCN Metro | 5,626 | 1,200 | 4.7 |
| Zayo | ~6,000 | 1,247 | 4.8 |
| Cavtel Wholesale | 1,550 | 300 | 5.2 |
| FiberLight | 1,400 | 250 | 5.6 |
| US Signal | 700 | 100 | 7.0 |
| Cogent | 10,400 | 1,270 | 8.2 |
| IP Networks Inc | 400 | 40 | 10.0 |
| Fibertech | 2,300 | 200 | 11.5 |
| SRPNet Telecom | 950 | 55 | 17.3 |
| Edison Carrier Solutions | 3,000 | 116 | 25.9 |
This month’s new entrant is Black Rock Cable, from whom I received an email with the appropriate data a few weeks ago. Black Rock Cable, which is not a cable company and which runs fiber rings throughout three counties north of Seattle, may be small but it is also very dense – averaging just 0.8 route miles per building. This is another of those companies with a laser-like focus which have surprised me since beginning to compile this table. They know their market very well and can compete and win against the local incumbent. There must be others like them out there that I haven’t run into yet, so if you know of one please ping me!
TW Telecom made steady progress, adding another 250 or so buildings to their networks. Level 3’s buildout seemed to cool off, any progress there was a rounding error in the second quarter. Optimum Lightpath connected a few hundred buildings, and they also announced the acquisition of 4Connections which will probably change their profile by when it closes. Cogent keeps adding 25 buildings per quarter, and I expect with the pressure on their datacenter-centric business they will continue to add new enterprise buildings in an attempt to diversify. Most of the other companies have not updated their public numbers since I last checked. I adjusted Zayo’s numbers based on new data, I had included some planned on-net buildings in the total – I took them out but we will see them phase in through the year no doubt.
I am aware of but still lack sufficient information on the metro assets of the following: Alpheus, Southern Telecom, ITC Deltacom, FPL Fibernet, Balsam West Fibernet, and Enventis.
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Categories: CLEC · Metro fiber
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what about Columbia Fiber Solutions in Spokane?
Yep, that’s another I am unfamiliar with, thanks Dan! Looks like 350 buildings, but at first glance it’s unclear how many route miles of fiber. I’ll keep looking.
I posted how many route miles on bearonbusiness just now.
Dan asked:
“What about Columbia Fiber Solutions in Spokane?”
If already posted, my apologies in advance:
—
Zayo Group to acquire Columbia Fiber Solutions
Zayo Group, a regional provider of bandwidth and telecom services, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Spokane, WA-based Columbia Fiber Solutions (CFS) from Columbia Ventures Corp. More…
http://tinyurl.com/6oxh4r
—
Congratulations, Dan!
Frank
Oops. I just read belatedly your bearonbusiness post Dan. Sorry ’bout that.
Rob – when do you think you’ll update this? This is very helpful!
Thanks!!
Late Feb or early March most likely.