Colt Takes Aim at Asian Metro Fiber

Colt is planning something we haven’t seen too often from international operators.  They are investing an expansion of the company’s metro fiber footprint in the Far East.

Colt plans to build fully-owned metro footprints in Singapore and Hong Kong as well as other markets in the region.  In Singapore they will start digging in April, with expansion in Hong Kong and other markets following later in the year.  Details aren’t completely clear, but I’d assume the level at which they own the assets will vary by market as you might expect.

They’ll be using that metro fiber to hook up businesses to their global network, connecting them back to key markets in Asia, Europe, and North America.  Colt has been actively investing in IP, Ethernet, and cloud connectivity in its Asian theater over the last several quarters, and adding some more fiber to its diet seems like a logical next step.

Colt has also been expanding their presence in North America lately, so I suppose I’m going to have to resist the urge to use the pan-European label that used to be easily applied.  I wonder what Fidelity has planned for Colt going forward, having taken it private in 2015.  I’ve always seen it as an eventual target (now for Zayo perhaps), but maybe it could turn into a consolidation platform.  Add a US fiber network (Cogent?) to their European and Asian depth and what do you have?

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Categories: Metro fiber