Telecom Ramblings

Last February, one of 2016’s most surprising acquisitions was announced as Verizon agreed to buy XO Communications from Carl Icahn.  Yesterday, after what has been quite a full year of M&A news, Verizon finally finished with all the necessary regulatory hurdles and closed the deal.   [Read more →]

The global communications provider Epsilon is making a play for more of the US marketplace via an inorganic path.  Epsilon revealed this morning that it has acquired the assets and operations of Metcom Network Services, adding to its assets and capabilities in  none other than New York City. [Read more →]

Lumos Networks’ North Carolina ambitions have led to another M&A.  The Virginia-based fiber builder and operator has announced the acquisition of DC74, complementing the fiber and connectivity services they got through the Clarity acquisition with some regional data center expertise. [Read more →]

Here’s a quick look at a few other bits of news announced down here at Metro Connect in Miami this week: [Read more →]

This article was authored by Lachlan Colquhoun, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

Anyone wanting to understand which are the hottest telecoms markets in the world only needs to look to India, where we learned recently that foreign direct investment in the sector has more than tripled this year.  [Read more →]

Atlanta’s Colo Atl has some new regional fiber connectivity to report. The Columbia County Community Broadband Utility is moving into its data center at 55 Marietta Street. They’ll be taking up some colo space in the facility as well as accessing the Southeast Network Access Point IX for interconnection and related services. [Read more →]

Wilcon is stretching its reach to an even larger chunk of southern California. The Los Angeles-based fiberoptic networking provider announced today a significant expansion of its network in the City of San Diego. [Read more →]

It was one year ago that Aqua Comms polished off the build-out of the transatlantic cable system America-Europe Connect (AEConnect). This past autumn, the company brought in as CEO an industry veteran with extensive experience in all aspects of the submarine cable industry. Nigel Bayliff started out at Mercury Communications back in the 80s, moved on to what later became Virgin Media, then on to Flag Telecom, and more recently to Huawei Marine, with various periods of independent consulting in between. He joins us today to discuss what the submarine cable market looks like today and where Aqua Comms goes from here. [Read more →]

One edge data center in Miami was apparently not enough.  EdgeConneX has announced the construction of a second facility in Miami. [Read more →]

I’ll be traveling to/from Metro Connect for the first half of the week.  But before I go, here’s a quick rundown on some early news from this week from around the world: [Read more →]

This article was authored by Dylan Bushell-Embling, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

The telecommunications sector is in a position to unlock $2 trillion in economic value through digital transformation, according to new research from the World Economic Forum. [Read more →]

Next week is Metro Connect, and I’ll be down in Miami as well.  But first, here’s some metro fiber news from Missouri, Texas, Nebraska, and Arkansas that’s worth a look: [Read more →]

Yes, that’s the rumor of the morning.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon Communications and Charter Communications are talking about some sort of deal.  Of course, it’s just talk at the moment, and preliminary talk at that.  The question is how seriously we should take the idea. [Read more →]

Here’s a quick rundown of some news from the colo and interconnection space: [Read more →]

The Midwest got some interesting data center M&A news this morning.  H5 Data Centers has announced the acquisition of the Cleveland Technology Center, bringing it into Ohio for the first time.   [Read more →]

Ciena today announced plans to enhance its Blue Planet orchestration software and move into an additional line of business.  They have added Analytics to the mix, enabling network operators in monitoring and understanding how their networks are actually operating.  [Read more →]

Cisco has had a steady appetite for M&A over the years, steadily devouring companies to both add revenue scale and to bring new talent and technologies into the fold.  Yesterday they revealed a particularly interesting one, announcing their intent to acquire AppDynamics for $3.7B in cash and assumed equity awards. [Read more →]

Taking advantage of the expansion of the federal E-Rate program into the world of dark fiber, Zayo revealed a new win yesterday in the education vertical. The Office of Education for a county in Northern California has selected their infrastructure to hook up school districts across a wide swth of geography. [Read more →]

Two fiber builders and operators have not only found a common regional cause in the New York metropolitan area, but have done something about it. New York City-based ZenFi and New Jersey-based Cross River Fiber have partnered on a new joint online platform. [Read more →]

Here’s a quick look at some network news from this week already: [Read more →]

This article was authored by Jouko Ahvenainen, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

I have just traveled in Asia. I had to coordinate many meetings, and many contacts said “this is my number, let’s exchange details in WhatsApp, what’s your number?” The problem is that I have several phones and also, when I travel, I buy local pre-paid cards. So, I’m almost always online, but I don’t know the phone number beforehand. Why we still are stuck with these phone numbers? [Read more →]

Here’s a quick rundown on some of the early infrstructure news from around the world: [Read more →]

One of the most dynamic segments in the market today is that of interconnection and cloud connectivity.  Automation is key, and the shift from a telco mindset to a DevOps approach is something we are hearing about on many fronts.  One company that has been shifting its model in this way is Epsilon Communications, which has been in the interconnection business for many years.  With us today to talk about the company’s approach and plans for the future is Jerzy Szlosarek, who just took the CEO chair in November 2015 after serving as CTO and COO for more than a decade. [Read more →]