Metro Bytes: Verizon, Ripple, Consolidated, Gateway, Comcast Business

News of metro interest from the infrastructure space, three FTTx and two wireless:

The Buffalo Bills have tapped Verizon as their exclusive wireless telecommunications partner at Highmark Stadium. The NFL team’s new stadium is set to open next year with capacity for some 60K people. It will will feature a neutral DAS system owned by Verizon that will power the fan experience. The partnership builds on an existing relationship at the current stadium of course.

Ripple Fiber has completed a strategic merger with its sister company HyperFiber. The deal makes formal on paper what was already the case on the ground. Greg Wilson leads the combined company, while Dan Kennedy has moved from the CEO role at HyperFiber to Executive Chairman at Ripple Fiber. The company operates FTTH infrastructure across a few dozen markets in North Carolina, South Carolina, Massachusetts, and Michigan, a footprint it is looking to accelerate the expansion of.

Consolidated is expanding its FTTH reach deeper into Chittenden County, Vermont, which sits on the shores of Lake Champlain and contains the Burlington metro area. They’ll be building access to more than 1,800 homes and businesses in Essex Town, Jericho, Shelburne, Westford, and Williston. The project started this week in Shelburn and will spread to the more of the CCCUD area this summer.

Gateway Fiber has lined up a new FTTH market up in Minnesota. They have officially begun construction in the city of Shoreview, about 5 miles northeast of Minneapolis. The company has been steadily adding markets throughout the metro area for several years now.

And Comcast Business has partnered with the University of Virginia for some on-campus private wireless. With technology from Druid Software and Airspan Networks, the new neutral-host network solution integrates directly with cellular carriers and uses CBRS spectrum to support high traffic areas and indoor environments. The company is looking to turn this idea into an affordable alternative to traditional DAS.

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Categories: FTTH · Mergers and Acquisitions · Metro fiber · Wireless