Telecom Ramblings

I have added a page on New England to my metro fiber maps section.   As always, if you know of any companies and/or maps that ought to be on this list, let me know.  The deepest players in the region (each in its own way) are Fibertech, RCN Metro, and Lightower, with Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ:LVLT - chart, news, filings) also holding a former Telcove stronghold up in Vermont that I don’t have a map for yet.  One company in the region that I am still learning about is Veroxity which seems to have a substantial presence in the suburbs of Boston amongst others. 

One major feature of New England’s metro fiber playing field that stands out is not who is there, but who is not.  For some reason, TW Telecom (NASDAQ:TWTC - chart, news, filings) has never expanded into the region, although they are pretty much everywhere else.  That fact has always led me to think that TW Telecom might pursue M&A in the area.  Any of those three above would fit the profile.  I suppose one lesson that I have learned in studying this segment over the last few years is that being everywhere is not necessarily the way you measure success in this business.

That being said, another company that isn’t in the New England market yet but could easily buy its way in would be Zayo.  In fact, I heard a rumor recently that they might be looking to do exactly that this winter.  But if they follow their usual pattern, they will probably dig up some underutilized fiber assets even I haven’t heard of yet.