Today there was a regional fiber consolidation event out west. Integra has stepped off the sidelines and agreed to acquire opticAccess LLC.
opticAccess is a fairly new name in the sector, having been founded in 2012. The company has 3,546 route miles of network, of which 2,553 is intercity fiber between southern California and Seattle, 649 is metro fiber mostly in LA and the SF Bay area, and 344 is a submarine route between San Luis Obispo and San Diego.
There’s not much detail out there beyond that, but the deal will clearly boost Integra’s California reach. Integra says its overall addressable near-net demand will rise by some 40%. Additionally, it will give them better route diversity and latency between Seattle and Los Angeles.
Earlier this year, Integra revived the Electric Lightwave brand as it shifted its approach to the market. They spent the prior few years shifting their focus from the CLEC world toward that of a fiber builder and operator. They made a few small acquisitions along the way, but nothing with assets similar to opticAccess.
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Categories: Fiber Networks · Mergers and Acquisitions · Metro fiber
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If you’re wondering what that submarine cable system is, as I was, it turns out to be the Global West cable, built by Global Photon back during the bubble. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tyco-submarine-systems-ltd-and-global-photon-systems-inc-sign-agreement-to-construct-first-pacific-coast-fiber-optic-undersea-cable-system-78067582.html
And no, I had no idea it was there either.
Global Photon finished the cable in 2001, and went bankrupt soon thereafter and the cable was basically abandoned. OpticAccess, via subsidiary X2 Telecom, apparently breathed life back into it in 2013. http://archives.slc.ca.gov/Meeting_Summaries/2013_Documents/12-02-13/Items_and_Exhibits/C82.pdf
Congrats to these guys, great story.
Any amounts disclosed?
Congratulations Jeff & team.
Congrats Jeff! -From the Giglinx Global Team.
Good for you Jeff and Craig!