Clearwire Taps FiberLight For Backhaul

Metro fiber specialist FiberLight (news) has been building out its network in support of the WiMAX buildout of clwr across several of its largest markets, according to a press release issued by the company on Friday.  Back in the Spring I interviewed the company’s CEO, Mike Miller, and his comments on fiber to the tower suggested that like Zayo they are seeing opportunities and have been active in the space.  Most in the sector have focused mainly on switching centers and other larger wholesale sites, but obviously Clearwire was already working with them when I asked.

In this case, the markets in question include Washington DC, Maryland, Texas, and Florida, where FiberLight has its deepest footprints.  They are hooking up key aggregation points, which has included hundreds of cell towers.  One notable piece that was mentioned here was that Clearwire is apparently the customer that drove FiberLight’s fiber expansion south from Miami into Kendall back in August, as well as a new connection into the NAP of the Americas.  Clearwire’s footprint has only lately touched Florida, and the FiberLight markets of Miami and Tampa are not yet online, but appear to be poised to join the initial markets of Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, and Orlando.

The other Clearwire markets out in Texas and up in DC and Maryland where FiberLight has assets are already serving WiMAX to customers.  What we haven’t heard much about has been just what sort of backhaul traffic Clearwire is seeing thus far.  How much traffic are its customers using?  Is it already too large for groups of T-1’s to handle, or is that mainly theoretical still?  I have heard hints that FiberLight has recently been looking at M&A as a buyer.  I wonder what new markets that would take them into…

If you haven't already, please take our Reader Survey! Just 3 questions to help us better understand who is reading Telecom Ramblings so we can serve you better!

Categories: Metro fiber · Wireless