Some five years after acquiring Nortel’s MEN business, Ciena is making another significant acquisition of a competing vendor. This morning they announced a definitive agreement to acquire Cyan in a move that will take the company much deeper into the world of on-demand networking and services. [Read more →]
Is it cheaper to build or buy a fiber network? It depends.
May 4th, 2015
Contributed by Charlie Reed & Rajive Keshup, ATLANTIC-ACM
Fiber market on fire
In the last week, we have seen ~$3B of transaction value between the Crown Castle/Sunesys and Lightower/Fibertech transactions at multiples as high as ~15x (EV/EBITDA). These are some of the highest multiples the industry has seen in recent history, sparking substantial debate on potential bubbles and a market that requires [Read more →]
Ramblings Jobs: Lightower
May 3rd, 2015
Three new job listings this past week on the Ramblings Jobs board from the northeast, and yes it’s from the consolidator of the week. [Read more →]
The State of Metro Fiber Consolidation
May 1st, 2015
Two announcements this week shook up the metro fiber markets in the USA this week: Lightower is taking out Fibertech for $1.9B, while Crown Castle is buying Sunesys for $1B. That’s a significant amount of fiber changing hands, and it’s worth taking a moment to step back and look at where we are. [Read more →]
Friday Bytes: Level 3, Interoute, Equinix, XO, Arrow, DBAK, NYI
May 1st, 2015
Here’s our recurring Friday quick look at other news from around the sector, as we digest the big metro fiber consolidation week we’ve had in the US. [Read more →]
Crown Castle Also to Acquire Access Fiber Group
April 30th, 2015
In the previous article today about Crown Castle’s plans to purchase Sunesys, I wondered what else might be on their shopping list after two deals in the past 8 months. Well, as an alert reader pointed out, it turns out that should have been three — we missed one other already this year. [Read more →]
Crown Castle Buys Sunesys, Stockpiles More Metro Fiber
April 30th, 2015
If anyone thought Crown Castle’s purchase of 24/7 MidAtlantic last autumn was a one time thing, they were proven wrong this morning. The tower operator has struck again, and this time it has bought a whole lot more metro dark fiber by buying Sunesys. [Read more →]
Wednesday Bytes: DE-CIX, Ciena, Infinera, ADVA
April 29th, 2015
In today’s roundup, an IX traffic milestone and three vendor wins to take a look at: [Read more →]
North American Enterprise Revenues Hold Up Level 3’s Q1
April 29th, 2015
Level 3 Communications posted its earnings report for Q1 2015 this morning, beating expectations slightly on earnings per share and coming in just under the street’s view on revenue. EBITDA and free cash flow were both strong, and the company raised guidance for both. Here are their numbers in some context with a few thoughts: [Read more →]
CyrusOne to Acquire Cervalis
April 28th, 2015
The data center provider CyrusOne made a significant inorganic move today, announcing the acquisition of privately-held Cervalis. The deal gives CyrusOne its first presence in the northeast, by which we mean the New York City metro area of course and an increased penetration of the financial vertical. [Read more →]
Tuesday Roundup: Allied Fiber, GCX, CenturyLink
April 28th, 2015
Here’s a quick look at some news from early this week: [Read more →]
Here Comes CS&L, the Network REIT is Born
April 28th, 2015
Yesterday Windstream followed through on the plans it unveiled 9 months ago, and spun off its network assets into a Real Estate Investment Trust in a tax-free move yesterday. The new entity trades under the ticker CSAL, and has had a bit of a rough going while the markets figure out just what to do with it. [Read more →]
Lightower to Buy Fibertech
April 27th, 2015
We have a major M&A move in the metro fiber space, and no it does not involve Zayo. In a transaction announced today, Lightower and Fibertech will be merging in an all cash deal. [Read more →]
The logic of telco M&As
April 27th, 2015
This article was authored by Jouko Ahvenainen, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.
Hutchison acquired O2. BT acquired EE. Years ago Hutchison sold Orange that is a part of EE, and BT divested O2. Nokia acquires Alcatel-Lucent and becomes the second largest network vendor, i.e. a business it planned to divest for some years. These are just some examples, but what does it tell about telco business and its long term planning? [Read more →]
Earnings Preview: Level 3’s Integration Kicks Into High Gear
April 27th, 2015
On Wednesday morning, Level 3 will report its first quarter earnings. Hence, as has been our custom on this site, here is a quick preview of what to expect. This will be Level 3’s first full quarter with the tw telecom business added in, and I expect to see significant integration expenses in advance of cost savings that will necessarily follow a bit later. Also of note, my admittedly limited reading of the currency markets suggests [Read more →]
Ramblings Jobs: Logix
April 26th, 2015
Two new job listings this past week on the Ramblings Jobs board from down in Texas to go with four others already on the books. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. [Read more →]
Comcast Throws In the TWC Towel, What Next?
April 24th, 2015
With regulators, senators, and all sorts of allies lining up against its proposed purchase of TW Cable and no breakup fee to worry about, Comcast is said to be yielding the field of battle. Reports say they may do it later today, deciding not to pursue what would be a difficult and probably fruitless trip through the courts. So what happens next? [Read more →]
Friday Bytes: EdgeConneX, Windstream, Ritter, NewCloud, Frontier
April 24th, 2015
Here’s a roundup for this cold Friday here in the northeast. I expect to be at the WAN Summit in NYC early next week, should anyone want to look me up there. [Read more →]
Telstra Expands Pacnet’s PEN
April 23rd, 2015
One of the essential questions to be answered for Telstra’s purchase of Pacnet out in the Pacific was just what their plans might be for Pacnet’s high profile SDN-powered platform. Less than a week after closing the deal, Telstra has answered that question by immediately moving to expand its reach. [Read more →]
Google Launches Fi, Takes On Wireless Too
April 23rd, 2015
Not content with trying to prove the FTTH case with Google Fiber, Google revealed yesterday on its corporate blog that the company is taking on the other pillar of consumer bandwidth with the launch of Fi. They’re not building a new wireless carrier along with all the infrastructure that goes with it, but they are planning to showcase a few new ideas aimed at shaking up the market. [Read more →]
FCC Piles On, Comcast/TWC Deal Teeters
April 23rd, 2015
I didn’t think regulators would actually step into the ring and try to stop Comcast’s purchase of TW Cable, but they seem to be doing so. The FCC’s staff has apparently recommended that the proposed transaction be given an administrative hearing before a judge. That’s what the FCC does when it disapproves, as in the case of AT&T/T-Mobile. [Read more →]
Wednesday Bytes: Bandwidth, Ciena, Transmode, Zayo
April 22nd, 2015
Time for a quick look at other news from around the industry this week: some cloud help for first responders, two vendor deals, and a financial move in fiber. [Read more →]
Industry Spotlight: Alianza CEO Brian Beutler Talks Cloud Voice Platforms
April 22nd, 2015
Of all the services out there that the cloud revolution may transform, voice is by far the one with the longest legacy history and widespread deployment. The VoIP revolution has taken a decade already, and still isn’t anywhere near complete and the PSTN is still with us. But with the arrival of new technologies like the cloud and NFV, the inherent advantages VoIP has always had the potential for are becoming much more accessible. Alianza is one of the companies driving forward on this front, and with us today to tell us what the company’s cloud voice platform is all about is CEO Brian Beutler. [Read more →]