Telecom Ramblings

Covad, CENX Make Ethernet Progress

Rob Powell — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:34:57 +0000

In further news coinciding with the beginning of CompTel, CENX and Covad offered updates on their Ethernet offerings.

CENX announced that its Carrier Ethernet exchange has surpassed 5 accessible million locations, and they expect that number to double by the end of the second quarter. That’s an interesting metric that I’m sure we will be hearing more about. It’s not the size of CENX’s exchange so much as the size of the combined … [visit site to read more]

Here Comes BroadSoft’s IPO At Last

Rob Powell — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:57:55 +0000

Maryland-based BroadSoft has filed an S-1 with the SEC in preparation for a long awaited IPO. While the price and number of shares are obviously undetermined at this stage, they hope to raise some $103M in all. Goldman Sachs and Jefferies will be handling the book running for the offering. BroadSoft has long been near the top of my personal list of companies that ought to be public, I suspect they would have a couple years ago when the IPO market went cold. The company’s software underlies … [visit site to read more]

Monday Roundup: GTT, GTS, Pangaea, XO

Rob Powell — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:50:40 +0000

Lots of announcements today as CompTel opens for business, here’s a quick survey:

TelX has linked up with Global Telecom and Technology (GTT)’s GigE backbone. The new connectivity will be available to customers across TelX’s 8 city colocation footprint. These two have worked … [visit site to read more]

Abovenet Launches Low Latency Transatlantic Connectivity

Rob Powell — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:42:41 +0000

Competitive metro fiber operator Abovenet (ABVT: chart, news) today launched a low latency transatlantic product aimed at the financial sectors. They are offering end to end connectivity between Slough, The City and Docklands in London, and various locations in Manhattan plus key facilities in Newark, Weehawken, Secaucus, Carteret, and Clifton. Each of those contains … [visit site to read more]

M&A Journal: AGL’s Metro Footprint Sold?

Rob Powell — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 07:40:40 +0000

I have heard several rumors since the start of 2010 that AGL Networks has been looking for a suitor, all of which have come from reliable sources. The latest, however, is that a buyer has stepped forth and we shall hear soon. One source says that it is none other than Zayo that is doing the buying, which would not surprise me much at all – things have been far too quiet over there lately. Of course, there are perhaps a half dozen metro fiber operators out there for whom AGL’s footprint might … [visit site to read more]

Global Crossing Upgrades Latin American Cables, Again

Rob Powell — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:51:48 +0000

International network operator Global Crossing (GLBC: chart, news) has unveiled plans to upgrade its MAC, PAC, and SAC submarine cable systems. These systems work together to link the Caribbean, Central America, and South America to both the east and west coasts of North America and the new capacity will come online during Q2 and Q3. Global Crossing isn’t the only increasing capacity to and from Latin America, just a few days ago Globenet announced the completion of an upgrade of its own. However, I was somewhat surprised to see this upgrade, considering … [visit site to read more]

Sprint Wireline Takes a Hit, What next?

Rob Powell — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:31:33 +0000

Over the past few days, it has emerged in stages that the wireline division of Sprint Nextel (S: chart, news) has lost its VoIP outsourcing contract with Time Warner Cable. Sanford & Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett broke the story with a reasearch note, and apparently TW Cable has confirmed its new plans to bring the business in-house over the next four years. Moffett’s calculations apparently peg the outsourcing deal at $10-11 per VoIP subscriber, and that some $250M or 25% of Sprint wireline’s EBITDA is at stake. I can’t judge the accuracy of those numbers, but if he’s even … [visit site to read more]

Pacific Fibre Planning New US/NZ/AU Cable

Rob Powell — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:44:38 +0000

A group of New Zealand investors are putting together an effort to build another cable in the Pacific, this one connecting the US directly to New Zealand and Australia, similar to the current Southern Cross cable. New Zealand is preparing a high speed domestic fiber network effort, and a big part of that is having enough diverse international connectivity to feed it. However their geographical position often limits their connectivity options unless they take the problem on themselves, which is precisely what they are … [visit site to read more]

Industry Spotlight: AboveNet’s Bill LaPerch

Rob Powell — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:25:15 +0000

Abovenet (ABVT: chart, news) was one of the better stories in the internet infrastructure sector during the recession of 2009. Re-emerging just over a year ago into the limelight after almost a decade of oblivion, the company has quickly taken up the mantle of leadership in the metro fiber space with high EBITDA margins, double digit growth rates, and even a 2-1 stock split. With us today to tell us where the company is headed now is the architect of that comeback: AboveNet’s President and CEO, Bill LaPerch: … [visit site to read more]

Zayo Advances in Ann Arbor, Denver

Rob Powell — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:16:28 +0000

Competitive fiber operator Zayo has had a couple of news items over the last few days. First, they picked up a contract in Michigan with managed data center provider Online Tech. They will be providing a diverse fiber path hooking up the company’s data center in Ann Arbor. The Ann Arbor metro fiber footprint derives from the former KMC assets that Zayo … [visit site to read more]

Abovenet Closes Books on 2009 Comeback

Rob Powell — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:55:03 +0000

Metro fiber comeback story Abovenet (ABVT: chart, news) reported its Q4 earnings this morning, closing the book on what was one of the few unequivocally positive stories amidst the economic turmoil of 2009. Revenues, EBITDA, and capex were all inline with guidance and perhaps slightly above analyst expectations. Earnings per share of $7.96 included a huge non-cash income tax benefit, probably due to advance recognition of NOLs – GAAP can be strange sometimes. Here is a quick table putting their results in context. … [visit site to read more]