Dan Caruso, who leads Zayo and writes bearonbusiness.com, has challenged the readers of Telecom Ramblings to guess Zayo’s 11th acquisition! Well, we can’t turn that down can we? Here are the clues:
- deep metro fiber in 2 NFL cities new to Zayo
- 3-4 other states ‘complimentary’ to Zayo’s footprint but with less fiber
I’m going to assume Dan meant ‘complementary’ there, spell checkers always miss that one. So let me start off by eliminating an obvious few from my non-exhaustive list of metro fiber companies. It isn’t Level 3 or Time Warner, nor could it be XO or Cogent or Abovenet – too many markets and too large. It isn’t Edison Carrier Solutions or Optimum Lightpath or AGL Networks since they are geographically too small or distant to be complementary. It isn’t Fiberlight or AFS, too many NFL cities there out of Zayo’s region and also probably too large.
No, we’re looking for something smaller, with a regional focus either in the rockies – hooking up the states of Colorado and Washington, the midwest – which is missing metro coverage in NFL cities Detroit and St Louis, or the northeast – Boston and Buffalo perhaps. And the size of the deal isn’t likely to be more than about the $100M range. So, are there any guesses out there?
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Categories: Fiber optic cable · Mergers and Acquisitions · Metro fiber
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Of course, we should expect that Dan’s clues may leave out a few details and may make use of ambiguity – after all he is trying to have some fun here. For instance – the phrase ‘NFL city’ when used with networks to indicate the big markets is not an exact match. Green Bay has the Packers but is not a big internet hub. So does he mean big markets or actual NFL cities – could go either way.
I took the guy to the airport so I wont ”comment”” GGGGGGGGskibare
Seems more likely than not that it’s assets from a larger company. There are only two standalone assets I can think of that come close but both seem to fall a bit short:
US Signal – perfect except that its two NFL cities that Zayo doesn’t serve include Green Bay, where they claim to have a dark fiber network but if it was dense and wonderful they never bothered to light it, and Detroit – where Zayo does touch slightly in the suburbs I think.
Fibertech – Buffalo and then we could stretch Albany to NFL status maybe since most networks go thru it – but it’s just too many states, more like 10 and not 3-6.
Right now I’m thinking that the northern half of the McLeod assets from Paetec might fit the bill, adding St Louis and Detroit plus complementary fiber in a triangle from those to Minneapolis. But that might be too pricey and people keep telling me it shouldn’t be for sale.
let’s see if I can provide more clues….the route miles should be the biggest clues
one of the NFL cities hosts a team that is a NFL powerhouse…the other one fights for respectability…route miles are 83 and 58 respectively
actually two of the other markets I mentioned (ones we are already in and the acquired fiber is less significant) are also NFL cities. Likewise, one is a powerhouse and the other only wants a little respect. these 3 markets come with only 27 route miles together…though they all help us strengthen our networks in these areas.
I forgot to mention a 6th market–it has on 4 miles though…no NFL team but it does boast a darn good NBA franchise.
My guess is Integra telecom fiber assets. Portland, Seattle,Sanfrans, oakland Phoenix my meet the clues laid out. This is the network acquired from Electric Lightwave.
Interesting, rick. But it seems to me that Zayo isn’t in enough of those markets – only Seattle. And don’t they have assets in SLC also? Anyhow, I wasn’t under the impression that Integra was in a selling mood, but you can never tell.
I think I could make a better case for US Signal based on the updated clues: Detroit/GreenBay as new markets, Chicago/Indianapolis/Cincinnati as existing markets, and Milwaukee being the NBA-only city. But the route miles don’t add up it seems.
Unless Zayo is carving a piece out of something like they did with centurytel, I suspect the candidate is not on my radar yet. The route miles in question actually are fairly small – 83+58+27+4 = 172 mentioned so far.
83 and 58 are pretty good sized metro networks
though wrong on integra and US Signal, you are correct on a few cities…rick is right on one of them, rob is right on two of them
ok Dan, thanks for the clues.
Although Integra is in Seattle, Portland & SLC, I didn’t think they were sellers.
So, let’s look at NoaNet, who seems to be in trouble with their fiber network…most of its network in WA & OR ? The other is Lightspeed Networks ? Think that will do it for the northwest….
One company is providing all the fiber routes. That would eliminate both the companies mentioned…another clue…nothing in Pacific Northwest
RCN
Based on the sports teams:
NFL powerhouse based on possible correct cities: green bay, indy
No NFL team, but a darn good NBA team: Phoenix.
Have you heard of Arizona Cardinals?
No on Green Bay and Indy
After watching the Cardinals play this weekend, I would agree that the city of Phoenix doesn’t have an NFL team.
I have heard of the Arizona Cardinals. But they don’t play in Phoenix. I thought about it.
Detroit, Milwaukee, and San Fran.
RCN is a great guess..they purchased the NEON backbone which covers DC and Baltimore and ConEd Communications which has an impressive foorprint in NYC that bypasses the Empire City mess..they also have a nice footprint in Mass…..The only negative is I just applied for a Directors position….I guess I should not hold my breath for a callback
but since Rick and Rob’s quesses are partially correct RCN is not in the picture…besides Danno would have to shake a lot of trees for the 500 million required
RCN Metro can be eliminated simply on a route mile basis, as they have a vast network in NYC and Boston, both far more than the route miles Dan has mentioned. Also they have only one NFL city that Zayo is not already in – Boston. And of course, they would cost too much.
Ok, here’s a lead. These markets of Dallas of 80+ route miles and Phoenix of 56+ route miles are clearly part of the asset Zayo is acquiring. However, the link goes to NEF which seems to be helping sell – the owner is not discussed. So we know Rick’s right answer, and hence mine are probably Chicago and maybe Cincinnati, with the NBA location still unknown. Ring any bells?
Ack, too late, it was yet more assets from Citynet . Oh well.
I am very upset being from Dallas and no one would consider Dallas a power house football team??? The teams mentioned were Detroit (come on) San Fran (really) and ok, Green Bay is close.
That would be the Dallas Cowgirls, right? Of course, as a Giants fan I’m not the least bit biased.
FWIW, Detroit was intended as the weak one with Green Bay as the strong one – and I guessed them only because they are adjacent to Zayo’s current turf.
So, does this challenge serve a better purpose other than giving zayo some more ideas on future acquisitions? 🙂