Ethernet Exchange Bytes: Verizon US Signal, Charter, Sidera

The news from the flourishing Ethernet segment continues to flow, with three interesting items coming out of CompTel today.

CENX (news) won a big customer endorsement from none other than Verizon (NYSE:VZ, news, filings).  Verizon was an early win for CENX, with the telecommunication giant testing out the new spread.  Well, apparently they liked it, because they are expanding their presence, hooking up in Los Angeles and Washington DC.  Having Verizon’s wholesale biz online and taking CENX seriously is a big deal.

Meanwhile, Telx Group (news, filings) added a customer of its own at their Exchange at 350 East Cermak in Chicago.  Midwestern regional specialist US Signal has hooked up in order to more cost effectively offer its Virtual Ethernet services.  It’s not their first exchange foray, US Signal also joined CENX last June.  Many providers seem to be finding value in joining multiple exchanges, suggesting that there is a reasonable amount of elbow room in this sector.

Charter’s business arm also picked today to launch a new Ethernet initiative.  They are offering Ethernet interconnect services at five locations:  Atlanta GA, St. Louis MO, Worcester MA, and two in Los Angeles.  They have also sign onto two Ethernet Exchanges: CENX and Equinix, with others probably in the wings.  They bring to the table thousands of lit buildings and tens of thousands more that are near net.

And finally, sidera unveiled its an Ethernet hub service, named E-Connect Hubs.  They’re using an ENNI setup with ten nodes in Boston, Chicago, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington, DC.  Sidera is part of multiple Ethernet exchanges, (CENX, Neutral Tandem, and Equinix if memory serves), however they are also clearly looking to streamline direct connections with larger networks as well.  Sidera has been relatively quiet since the new year began, but I still think they have some expansion plans in mind – possibly inorganic.

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Categories: Ethernet · ILECs, PTTs · Metro fiber