Industry Spotlight: Chad Taylor, UFD’s Rockstar Investor

September 9th, 2013
 

Telecom Ramblings may not be the next Rolling Stone, but nevertheless we’ve got an actual rock star interview for you today. Chad Taylor, best known as guitarist and co-founder of the multi-platinum rock band +LIVE+, is also Chairman of Think Loud Holdings, one of the main backers of United Fiber & Data. UFD made its debut earlier this year by kicking off a brand new fiber build between New York City and Ashburn by way of York, Pennsylvania. Chad joins us here today to talk fiber and telecom. [Read more →]

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Poll: Who Got the Deal, Verizon or Vodafone?

September 9th, 2013
 

Last week’s heavily foreshadowed $130B deal between Verizon and Vodafone finished off the summer M&A season with a bang.  In the end, Verizon met what had been widely seen as Vodafone’s price to finally gain full control over Verizon Wireless.  Did they get a steal or did they pay too much?  Now that the dust has settled, here’s a quick poll: [Read more →]

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Net Neutrality Gets Its Day In Court, But Does It Matter Anymore?

September 9th, 2013
 

Remember when the FCC laid down the law on net neutrality, and many said that as weak as it was it still likely wouldn’t survive a court challenge? Well that challenge took its usual scenic route through the legal system but has now arrived at long last.  [Read more →]

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Ramblings Jobs: Fatbeam, FPL/NextEra FiberNet

September 8th, 2013
 

Over on the Ramblings Jobs Board we have two new job listings this week from the competitive metro fiber space: [Read more →]

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Friday Bytes: EdgeCast, Hurricane Electric, XO, BroadSoft, Alteva

September 6th, 2013
 

It’s been a shortened week, but despite having all the oxygen sucked out by the Verizon/Vodafone and MicroSoft/Nokia deals, plenty of other interesting things managed to happen: [Read more →]

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Microsoft bets the farm on Nokia play

September 6th, 2013
 

This article was authored by John C. Tanner, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

In the wake of Microsoft’s $7.2 billion buyout of Nokia’s handset business, it’s not surprising some people are comparing it to Google’s buyout of Motorola’s handset division a couple of years ago. [Read more →]

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Datacenter Bytes: Infinity, Sabey, CoreSite, CyrusOne

September 5th, 2013
 

Here’s a quick roundup of news from the data center world this week, with Infinity tapping euNetworks’ fiber, and a customer each for Sabey, CoreSite, and CyrusOne. [Read more →]

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Integra Builds Out More Minneapolis Metro Fiber

September 5th, 2013
 

The western regional network operator Integra is expanding its metro presence on its eastern frontier, i.e. in the upper Midwestern city of Minneapolis. Integra is building out 1,600 fiber miles focused on the the central business district, with completion targeted in the fourth quarter of this year. [Read more →]

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Metro Fiber M&A: Cox Buys EasyTEL

September 4th, 2013
 

One of the big cable MSOs has bought its way into a deeper metro fiber footprint. Cox Communications today signed an agreement to buy Tulsa’s EasyTEL. [Read more →]

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Ciena Posts a Strong Fiscal Q3

September 4th, 2013
 

After a couple years of digesting the former Nortel MEN business, Ciena (NASDAQ:CIEN, news, filings) has been coming on very strong lately.  The company’s very strong fiscal third quarter was its third such performance in a row, easily beating expectations.  Here’s a quick table with some context: [Read more →]

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Wednesday Bytes: Level 3, Digital Realty, FairPoint, Equinox

September 4th, 2013
 

Here’s a quick look at some news items from the start of this week, and one from last week that I hadn’t gotten to.  [Read more →]

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Int’l Roundup: Level 3, SEACOM, Ericsson, Retelit

September 3rd, 2013
 

The USA may have been off for the past few days, but there’s been plenty of news elsewhere that is of interest. Here’s a quick review: [Read more →]

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Verizon Pays Up, Vodafone Will Distribute $84B to Shareholders

September 3rd, 2013
 

If you were unplugged for the Labor Day weekend in the USA, then this will be news. Otherwise, it’s just the wrap-up with the actual numbers.  The deal has been made: Verizon is paying Vodafone $130B to take full control over Verizon Wireless. [Read more →]

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The folly of long-term predictions

September 2nd, 2013
 

This article was authored by Joseph Waring, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

Five-year forecasts are standard fare for research firms and analysts, which send me a steady stream of ambitious predictions that I mostly ignore. An accurate estimate 12 months ahead is challenging enough, particularly for new industry segments. And it’s no secret that three-year outlooks are at best [Read more →]

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Verizon, Vodafone Ready For the Big Day At Last

September 2nd, 2013
 

In what may eventually prove to have been the least secret M&A dance of the decade, Verizon and Vodafone are supposedly ready to make a deal, at long last. According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon will be meeting Vodafone’s price of $130B for the 45% of Verizon Wireless the latter holds. [Read more →]

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Ramblings Jobs: Unite Private Networks

September 1st, 2013
 

Over on the Ramblings Jobs Board we have a new job listing this week from Unite Private Networks. [Read more →]

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Carlos Slim Prepares to Call KPN Foundation’s Bluff

August 30th, 2013
 

America Movil’s bid for KPN hit a bit of a roadblock yesterday, as the independent foundation tasked with protecting KPN’s stakeholders exercised its option to take more than 49% of voting control. The move apparently surprised analysts, not that it happened but that it happened so soon. But I don’t think it surprised Carlos Slim & co. [Read more →]

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Level 3 Slims Down Toward Profitability

August 30th, 2013
 

Well, I can’t say it was unexpected. The news out of Level 3 Communications (NYSE:LVLT, news, filings) this week is a round of layoffs. According to the Denver Post the number is 700, or 6.5% of the company’s global workforce, with 150 in Colorado and the rest spread out around the rest of the world. [Read more →]

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Network M&A: Hibernia Buys a Transit Backbone

August 29th, 2013
 

Hibernia Networks took another step away from its roots under the waves with an acquisition announcement today. They’re buying Atrato IP Networks, the Dutch-based transit and Ethernet backbone. [Read more →]

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Vodafone and Verizon are Dancing Once Again

August 29th, 2013
 

Yes, the deal rumor of the year that teases us every month or two is back this morning. Verizon and Vodafone could again be doing a deal for the 45% of Verizon Wireless that Vodafone owns and Verizon wants. This time, however, there are at least a few actual signs that a deal could actually be within range. [Read more →]

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Industry Spotlight: Ciena’s Mitch Auster on SDN

August 29th, 2013
 

Software defined networking is all the rage this year, and service providers are starting to take notice of its potential beyond the data center and into wide area networks. Service provider networks are much different than what you find in a data center, and automation of provisioning and service delivery causes an expanded set of problems. With us today to delve further into the subject and to let us know where Ciena stands on the subject is Mitch Auster, Ciena’s Senior Director of Market Development. [Read more →]

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Wednesday Roundup: FiberLight, XO, iRis, Epsilon

August 28th, 2013
 

It’s time for a quick roundup of network news from the metro to the Middle East: [Read more →]

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UK’s Geo For Sale, So Who Might Be Buying?

August 28th, 2013
 

A report came out over in the UK this past weekend suggesting that one of the UK’s largest independent fiber assets could be sold in the next quarter or two. Geo, which was bought from Hutchison Whampoa by Alchemy Partners five years ago for £62M, is apparently on the block and the price tag could reach £200M. [Read more →]

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