AboveNet Hooks Up Providence?

In a press release today, abvt announced that it is building into the data centers of Prov.net.  Prov.net operates 6000 square feet in its Providence facilities, aiming at disaster recovery, cloud services, managed services and colocation marketplace.  AboveNet is bringing its usual 432 strand metro fiber connection into the facility, which will then make up the bulk of its total of 500+ strands.  What’s interesting here is not so much that AboveNet hooked up another data center – they do that a lot of course.

What’s interesting is that it was in Providence, Rhode Island, which is not only on their current map, but also doesn’t quite qualify as a Tier 1 bandwidth destination as compared to the company’s 15 main metro fiber markets or half dozen recent expansion markets.  If Providence is on the menu, then AboveNet may have shifted its focus toward smaller markets elsewhere as well.

Speculation that AboveNet may find a buyer seems to have cooled off substantially now, though one never knows what is happening in the back rooms of this industry.  But perhaps we may see them next on the other side of the bargaining table.  They’d fit very well with FiberLight for example.

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Categories: Metro fiber