Metro Bytes: Zayo, Fatbeam, Enventis, Birch

I’m a little behind this week, posting from the road in California.  Here’s a quick update on some metro news from this week:

Zayo has upgraded its Ethernet backbone to 100G. The bigger pipes are being rolled out in markets across their footprint, with an initial 12 usual suspects in both the US and Europe to start off. It’s been quiet for more than a quarter at Zayo, which historically has meant another acquisition is in the wings.

Out in the Pacific Northwest, Fatbeam says it has acquired some new fiber assets. They’ve bought 24.5M of metro dark fiber from EMAN Networks, giving them more than 100M in the Spokane/Liberty Lake/Coeur d’Alene metro area. They plan to use the new fiber to serve Spokane’s Central Valley School District under the sort of long term E-rate agreement that is their bread and butter.

Enventis isn’t Enventis any longer. They will be doing business under the Consolidated Communications brand as the integration of the two companies continues. The deal brought Consolidated up into Minnesota and the surrounding states, and they will probably be ready for another regional deal soon.

And Birch has polished off its 25th acquisition, completing the purchase of OrbitCom. The deal fills in a few more of the remaining gaps in Birch’s national footprint, specifically out in the Rockies. They hope to find a few revenue synergies as they take their broader portfolio to Orbitcom’s broadband and phone enterprise customers.

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Categories: CLEC · Mergers and Acquisitions · Metro fiber