Telecom Ramblings

As expected, yesterday new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has unveiled his plans to roll back the net neutrality regime put in place during the Obama administration by his predecessor, Tom Wheeler.  Under the proposed rulemaking, not only will Title II be withdrawn from the internet but the FCC will cede oversight of such things to the FTC.  What do you think?  Have your say in the poll below: [Read more →]

Last year Google Fiber stopped launching new markets.  A shakeout in their management team soon followed as did the purchase of Webpass, which indicated the reason lay in the promise/threat of new wireless technologies changing the economics of the last mile.  And then there was silence, until now. [Read more →]

On Tuesday of this week there was some M&A in the data center space that I managed to miss.  365 Data Centers has been acquired by an investor group led by Chirisa Investments and including Lumerity Capital and Longboat Advisors.  The new owners have brought in Bob DeSantis, formerly co-founder and managing partner at Xand, as the new CEO. [Read more →]

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

Today FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to unveil his plan for network neutrality. He’ll be speaking this afternoon at the Newseum in Washington DC, and will be discussing in what way and by how much he’ll be pushing to roll back what former chairman Tom Wheeler put in place. [Read more →]

Here’s a quick look at some recent news items: [Read more →]

I’ve been somewhat amazed how seriously people are taking the possibility that Comcast and Verizon could be the next big merger.  The idea was floated by Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam last week alongside other similarly grand ideas like Disney and CBS, and since then analysts and journalists have been offering some up a few thoughts.  One quote I have seen comes from BTIG Research: [Read more →]

AT&T’s bid to acquire Straight Path Communications has some competition.  Straight Path announced this morning that an unsolicited offer from an unnamed ‘Multi-National Telecommunications Company’ has been made and that it constitutes a “superior proposal”. [Read more →]

BICS has thrown its hat into the global M&A ring this morning. The international arm of Belgacom has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire US-based TeleSign Corporation. The company sees the move as expanding its role in the industry from that of a global carrier to an international digital enabler. [Read more →]

It’s been in the works for half a decade or more now, but the South Atlantic Cable System is apparently finally off the drawing board and under construction.  Earlier this month, NEC announced that the contract to build SACS had come into force, and late last week, Angola Cables announced that the marine survey is now complete and the loading of the pre-laid shore end on the Angolan side is underway.   [Read more →]

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

The Thai government is eager to build a new subsea cable linking China, Bangkok and Hong Kong, as part of the efforts to transform Thailand into Southeast Asia’s digital hub. [Read more →]

Here’s another quick look at some colo & cloud news from this week: [Read more →]

Here’s a quick look at a few other news items from the metro this week: [Read more →]

Verizon helped kick off telecoms earnings season on a sour note this morning with its first quarter results.  Revenues of $29.8B, whereas analysts had been expecting more like $30.5B.  Excluding one time items, earnings per share of $0.95 also came in three pennies under expectations, and so the market will probably take them down a bit when it opens. [Read more →]

Sad news out of Rochester New York this week. John K. Purcell, longtime CEO and co-founder of Fibertech Networks, has passed away at the age of 73. John was one of the first in the industry to recognize the power of the metro fiber model and to build a business entirely around it. He was also an all-around fantastic guy to have known, and he will be missed. [Read more →]

Here’s some news from around the world that’s worth a quick look: [Read more →]

The telecommunications giant Verizon had a bit of an interesting day yesterday.  Apparently there’s going to be more fiber in their diet in the next few years, and perhaps some romance as well. [Read more →]

Here’s a quick look at some news from around the industry from the start of the week: [Read more →]

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

China Telecom and Huawei will lead a new industry working group exploring the use of AI in the deployment and optimization of telecoms networks. [Read more →]

Easter weekend was apparently a fruitful one for fiber infrastructure M&A work, as we have another deal to look at this morning.  Crown Castle International has announced a definitive agreement to buy Wilcon. [Read more →]

Last summer there was some discussion that Lightower Fiber Networks might be up for sale, but the source was quite sketchy at the time.  Nothing immediate came of it, but just before the Easter weekend broke, the rumor resurfaced and this time it’s coming in as a Reuters report that is worth taking seriously. [Read more →]

With an ‘major webscale’ anchor customer in tow, Zayo has announced the expansion of its data center presence in Los Angeles.  They will be adding another data center there, bringing their California total up to five. [Read more →]

The bidding war for Straight Path Communications may not be over yet.  Rumors now suggest that Verizon is considering an offer for the spectrum owner that would take the prize away from rival AT&T. [Read more →]