Telecom Ramblings

Contributed by Charlie Reed & Rajive Keshup, ATLANTIC-ACM

Fiber market on fire

In the last week, we have seen ~$3B of transaction value between the Crown Castle/Sunesys and Lightower/Fibertech transactions at multiples as high as ~15x (EV/EBITDA).  These are some of the highest multiples the industry has seen in recent history, sparking substantial debate on potential bubbles and a market that requires [Read more →]

Three new job listings this past week on the Ramblings Jobs board from the northeast, and yes it’s from the consolidator of the week. [Read more →]

Two announcements this week shook up the metro fiber markets in the USA this week: Lightower is taking out Fibertech for $1.9B, while Crown Castle is buying Sunesys for $1B. That’s a significant amount of fiber changing hands, and it’s worth taking a moment to step back and look at where we are. [Read more →]

Here’s our recurring Friday quick look at other news from around the sector, as we digest the big metro fiber consolidation week we’ve had in the US. [Read more →]

In the previous article today about Crown Castle’s plans to purchase Sunesys, I wondered what else might be on their shopping list after two deals in the past 8 months. Well, as an alert reader pointed out, it turns out that should have been three — we missed one other already this year. [Read more →]

If anyone thought Crown Castle’s purchase of 24/7 MidAtlantic last autumn was a one time thing, they were proven wrong this morning.  The tower operator has struck again, and this time it has bought a whole lot more metro dark fiber by buying Sunesys. [Read more →]

In today’s roundup, an IX traffic milestone and three vendor wins to take a look at: [Read more →]

Level 3 Communications posted its earnings report for Q1 2015 this morning, beating expectations slightly on earnings per share and coming in just under the street’s view on revenue.  EBITDA and free cash flow were both strong, and the company raised guidance for both. Here are their numbers in some context with a few thoughts: [Read more →]

The data center provider CyrusOne made a significant inorganic move today, announcing the acquisition of privately-held Cervalis.  The deal gives CyrusOne its first presence in the northeast, by which we mean the New York City metro area of course and an increased penetration of the financial vertical.   [Read more →]

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

Yesterday Windstream followed through on the plans it unveiled 9 months ago, and spun off its network assets into a Real Estate Investment Trust in a tax-free move yesterday. The new entity trades under the ticker CSAL, and has had a bit of a rough going while the markets figure out just what to do with it.  [Read more →]

We have a major M&A move in the metro fiber space, and no it does not involve Zayo. In a transaction announced today, Lightower and Fibertech will be merging in an all cash deal. [Read more →]

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

Hutchison acquired O2. BT acquired EE. Years ago Hutchison sold  Orange that is a part of EE, and BT divested O2. Nokia acquires Alcatel-Lucent and becomes the second largest network vendor, i.e. a business it planned to divest for some years. These are just some examples, but what does it tell about telco business and its long term planning? [Read more →]

On Wednesday morning, Level 3 will report its first quarter earnings.  Hence, as has been our custom on this site, here is a quick preview of what to expect.  This will be Level 3’s first full quarter with the tw telecom business added in, and I expect to see significant integration expenses in advance of cost savings that will necessarily follow a bit later.  Also of note, my admittedly limited reading of the currency markets suggests [Read more →]

Two new job listings this past week on the Ramblings Jobs board from down in Texas to go with four others already on the books.  If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. [Read more →]

With regulators, senators, and all sorts of allies lining up against its proposed purchase of TW Cable and no breakup fee to worry about, Comcast is said to be yielding the field of battle.  Reports say they may do it later today, deciding not to pursue what would be a difficult and probably fruitless trip through the courts.  So what happens next? [Read more →]

Here’s a roundup for this cold Friday here in the northeast.  I expect to be at the WAN Summit in NYC early next week, should anyone want to look me up there. [Read more →]

One of the essential questions to be answered for Telstra’s purchase of Pacnet out in the Pacific was just what their plans might be for Pacnet’s high profile SDN-powered platform.  Less than a week after closing the deal, Telstra has answered that question by immediately moving to expand its reach. [Read more →]

Not content with trying to prove the FTTH case with Google Fiber, Google revealed yesterday on its corporate blog that the company is taking on the other pillar of consumer bandwidth with the launch of Fi.  They’re not building a new wireless carrier along with all the infrastructure that goes with it, but they are planning to showcase a few new ideas aimed at shaking up the market. [Read more →]

I didn’t think regulators would actually step into the ring and try to stop Comcast’s purchase of TW Cable, but they seem to be doing so.  The FCC’s staff has apparently recommended that the proposed transaction be given an administrative hearing before a judge.  That’s what the FCC does when it disapproves, as in the case of AT&T/T-Mobile.   [Read more →]

Time for a quick look at other news from around the industry this week: some cloud help for first responders, two vendor deals, and a financial move in fiber. [Read more →]

Of all the services out there that the cloud revolution may transform, voice is by far the one with the longest legacy history and widespread deployment.  The VoIP revolution has taken a decade already, and still isn’t anywhere near complete and the PSTN is still with us.  But with the arrival of new technologies like the cloud and NFV, the inherent advantages VoIP has always had the potential for are becoming much more accessible.  Alianza is one of the companies driving forward on this front, and with us today to tell us what the company’s cloud voice platform is all about is CEO Brian Beutler. [Read more →]

This morning saw the project launch announcement of another brand new Transatlantic cable system.  AquaComms and TE SubCom have kicked off the build of AEConnect, which they expect to be ready for service in December of this year. AEConnect will land out on Long Island in Shirley, NY and on the northwest coast of Ireland at Killala. The 5,400km route will then offer connectivity on to London via CeltixConnect across the Irish Sea.  [Read more →]