While we’re all waiting to see if Zayo succeeds in its bid to buy the company, abvt is still out there selling bandwidth. This morning they picked up a key UK contract in the financial vertical supplying connectivity to BATS Europe and Chi-X Europe . [Read more →]
Colo Roundup 4/10: QTS, Cologix, CoreSite, Terremark, Interxion, DLR
April 11th, 2012
There was a blitz of colocation-related news items yesterday, here are some quick highlights: [Read more →]
Metro Bytes 4/10: Fibertech, tw telecom, CapeNet, Earthlink, Spread
April 10th, 2012
Several interesting stories from the metro space already this week that are worth a quick look. [Read more →]
Rostelecom to Buy RETN
April 10th, 2012

According to reports, Russian telecommunications giant Rostelecom is buying IP/MPLS network operator RETN. At least that’s what it sounds like — the Russian fiber market has always been a bit opaque to me and the tortured language issued by the FAS regulatory body didn’t help one bit: [Read more →]
Finding a Likely Buyer For Cogent
April 10th, 2012
Lately Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI, news, filings) has begun to come up more frequently as a fiber M&A target in both the media and analyst reports, while for many years they haven’t really popped up too much in the various consolidation rumors. That’s partly because they’ve stated that prices are higher than they are willing to pay, while CEO Dave Schaeffer has seemed focused on simply continuing to chart an independent, disruptive [Read more →]
MagicJack Pre-Announces, Easily Beats Estimates
April 9th, 2012
Hmmm, I think magicJack VocalTec (NASDAQ:CALL, news, filings) is trying to get some attention from the markets. It’s not often that a company pre-announces in February that it will beat analyst estimates for Q1, and then pre-announces again after Easter weekend to confirm that it in fact probably has done so and intends to resume and accelerate its stock buyback program. But then, magicJack has never been known for its humble approach to PR either [Read more →]
No Deal Yet AT&T/Unions, But No Strike Yet Either
April 9th, 2012
Over the weekend, AT&T (NYSE:T, news, filings) and unions representing tens of thousands of workers passed a deadline without a new contract. For now, the unions and the company are still negotiating and the workers will still be working according to a Reuters report. The main area of dispute is who pays how much for [Read more →]
Easter Roundup 4/9: SRP, Altibox, Qtel, Level 3
April 9th, 2012
Happy Easter to everyone! Most readers are probably still on break but for those who aren’t here are some quick looks at some news items that happened since or slipped through the cracks last week. [Read more →]
Ramblings Jobs Easter: Jaymie Scotto & Associates
April 6th, 2012
The Ramblings Jobs Board has had a very productive spring, especially since it was remodeled last month. This week we have a new listing from a familiar face. Jaymie Scotto & Associates is looking for [Read more →]
Are Today’s Fiber Builders Repeating The Mistakes of the Dot Com Era?
April 6th, 2012
There was some lively discussion following my, err, somewhat lively response to that WSJ article earlier this week. My own opinion is no secret, but let’s put it to a vote just to see where we stand as a group: [Read more →]
For LightSquared, a Dance With The BK Rumor Mill
April 5th, 2012
It was truly inevitable that after last quarter’s final regulatory defeat over the GPS interference issue we would see LightSquared on the ropes. That is what the word is out there in the media today with bankruptcy is looming large as an option, with Philip Falcone himself quoted by Reuters as ‘seriously considering’ a voluntary filing. [Read more →]
Colo Roundup 4/5: Terremark, Equinix, Savvis, IO, CoreLink
April 5th, 2012
With Easter on tap this weekend, let’s wrap up with a few quick looks at items in the colocation space, which has been very busy this week: [Read more →]
Optical Delusions and Illusions
April 4th, 2012
In the Wall Street Journal yesterday there appeared an article entitled “Optical Delusion? Fiber Booms Again Despite Bust” which requires a response. While noting the importance of where the fiber is in determining its value, the author continues to speak from the doubtful perspective that there is some [Read more →]
NFC payments a solution seeking a problem
April 4th, 2012
This article was authored by Don Sambandaraksa, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.
Smart mobile devices have long been hailed as the solution to the digital divide and many speak of the wonders that contactless payment technologies enabled through NFC and online payment apps can bring. But all too often, technology seems like a solution searching for a problem. [Read more →]
Rising From the CLEC Ashes
April 4th, 2012
Yesterday I was reading this piece on the threat to the incumbent telcos and cable operators plans for the SME from independent cloud-based VoIP and UC from service providers like ‘8×8, Aptela, Fonality, and Nextiva’, and it occurred to me that there was something missing. There’s someone else out there who used to fight for these customers, but has faded a bit from the view of Wall Street. [Read more →]
Zayo On the Move in Tennessee, Georgia, and Colorado
April 3rd, 2012
With their proposed acquisitions of Abovenet and Arialink still pending, Zayo has continued to push forward on all fronts lately. Today they announced the completion of the network expansion in Nashville that they had started on in the fall, finishing up with [Read more →]
ABRY Buys Another Data Center Operator
April 3rd, 2012
ABRY Partners seems to have an unending appetite for internet infrastructure currently. Today they expanded their colocation footprint by buying Access Northeast and merging it with Xand, which they just purchased six months ago. [Read more →]
TeliaSonera to Deliver NHL to Scandanavia
April 3rd, 2012
TeliaSonera International Carrier added a big sports broadcasting notch to its belt this morning, announcing that it will be delivering live NHL games to the Scandanavian countries. While of North American sports it’s usually basketball that gets exported the most, for countries touching the Arctic Circle it is naturally hockey [Read more →]
More Fiber M&A: Private Equity Buys Eurofiber
April 3rd, 2012

Reports from Europe this morning say that private equity is moving in on one of the largest independent fiber operators in the Netherlands. Doughty Hanson has apparently agreed to buy a majority stake in Eurofiber from [Read more →]
Colo Bytes 4/3: T-Systems, Windstream, IO, Equinix
April 3rd, 2012
There have been several interesting colo/cloud items already this week, here are a few quick takes: [Read more →]
AAPT Launches 100G Down Under
April 2nd, 2012
While its NBN project has a long road ahead of it yet, Australia got some 100G loving today from AAPT. They commercially launched a 100Gbps connection between Melbourne and Sydney on April 1, but of course it’s better to announce such things [Read more →]
Integra Launches Waves
April 2nd, 2012

Integra Telecom (news, filings) said today that it has launched wavelength services. The western CLEC and network operator isnow [Read more →]
Fiberopoly
April 1st, 2012

This article was authored by James Henry, Senior Managing Director of Bank Street Group.
In recognition of April Fool’s Day, I thought the readers at Telecom Ramblings might enjoy this Monopoly-inspired Fiberopoly board game: [Read more →]