Two and a half years after the initial flare-up, Level 3 and Comcast have apparently resolved their differences over peering, transit, net neutrality, and all that Netflix video traffic. Comcast had demanded Level 3 pay for the extra ports needed to handle a surge in video traffic coming in from their then new CDN contract with Netflix, and while Level 3 had agreed under protest the dispute had simmered on the back burner ever since. [Read more →]
San Diego to Get More Zayo Fiber Attention
July 16th, 2013

Zayo says it is putting yet more money to work down in San Diego with plans to add an additional 5,000 fiber miles to their metro network. The project will add capacity to existing routes as well as extend metro connectivity into surrounding communities such as Oceanside, Encinitas, Del Mar and Escondido. Zayo will also be [Read more →]
Alcatel-Lucent Claims New Undersea Speed Record
July 16th, 2013
We’re still in the early stages of 100G deployment, but the next wave of technology is hitting the testing and demo stage. Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU, news, filings) today claimed a new world record for highest subsea capacity over a single fiber, putting a whopping 31 Tbps over a 7200km link. [Read more →]
Poll: Why is AT&T Buying Leap?
July 16th, 2013
AT&T’s planned purchase of Leap Wireless and its Cricket prepaid brand came as a bit of a surprise, if only because they could have done it long before this if the drivers were compelling enough to pay a 90% premium to the current stock price. The 3G network is incompatible, the spectrum is valuable but not a perfect fit, and it’s not so big as to shift any major needles for AT&T. So it’s time for a poll: why is AT&T doing this? [Read more →]
Tuesday Roundup 7/16: HE.net, Geo, EarthLink, Zayo
July 16th, 2013
Here’s a quick roundup of some news from competitive network operators this week, with an expansion by Hurricane Electric, customer contracts for Geo and EarthLink, and some new board members at Zayo. [Read more →]
Fiber M&A: BTG Buys GlobeNet From Oi
July 15th, 2013

Private equity has bought itself some more fiber, this time down in Brazil. Oi today announced that it is selling the assets that make up its GlobeNet division to a subsidiary of the infrastructure fund BTG Pactual Infraestrutura II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes for R$1,745,590,000.00 (about $777M). [Read more →]
CDNetworks, NSN Team Up For Mobile CDN
July 15th, 2013
Hoping to advance their combined mobile content capabilities, CDNetworks and Nokia Siemens Networks are teaming up. They have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at coordinating their respective technologies. [Read more →]
Inteliquent Boosts Guidance Again
July 15th, 2013
The wholesale voice tandem business is apparently not quite dead yet. Just two and a half months after its sale of the former Tinet network to GTT in April and its refocus on the core voice business, Inteliquent is out there materially raising 2013 guidance this morning: [Read more →]
AT&T Spends a Few Billion on Cricket
July 14th, 2013
In the wake of Softbank’s sprint into the US, AT&T has moved to consolidate a bit more of what’s left of the market. They’re acquiring Leap Wireless for $15 per share, which comes to $1.2B in cash plus the assumption of $2.8B in net debt. [Read more →]
Metro Bytes: euNetworks, Southern Telecom, Telesystem, Comcast
July 12th, 2013
Here’s a quick Friday update covering items from metro and regional fiber operators this week: [Read more →]
What Does NEBS Level 3 Testing Look Like?
July 12th, 2013
This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Jared Jacobs of Dell OEM.
The Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) requirements were devised as a means to help make sure that certain important services are always available. There is such a reliance [Read more →]
Data Bytes: 365Main, Telx, OVH, Equinix, CyrusOne
July 11th, 2013
Time for a quick roundup of contract and expansion news from the data center space: [Read more →]
EU’s Antitrust Raids Incumbents Over Relationships With Content
July 11th, 2013
According to reports, the European Commission has launched a series of ‘unannounced inspections’ on some of the continent’s largest providers. Orange, Deutsche Telekom, and Telefonica have had regulators show up to comb through their offices, while BT and KPN have apparently not – yet at least. [Read more →]
US installed spy-liaison team in Global Crossing: report
July 11th, 2013
This article was authored by John C. Tanner, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.
ITEM: The Washington Post has published an extensive piece on what Singapore Technologies Telemedia had to do to satisfy national security concerns by the US government over its planned buyout of Global Crossing ten years ago – namely, hire a secretive [Read more →]
Softbank Takes the Helm At Last, Nextel No More
July 10th, 2013
As expected, both Sprint’s deal for Clearwire and its merger with Softbank are now complete. The soap opera is finally over and the #3 wireless carrier in the US and all that valuable spectrum are now 78% Japanese-owned and operated. And the first order of business: no more Nextel. [Read more →]
Fatbeam Starts Digging in Butte
July 10th, 2013

As promised earlier this year, the northwestern metro fiber builder Fatbeam is taking its case across the border from its home turf in northern Idaho and into western Montana. Today they announced the start of construction on their metro fiber network in the mining town of Butte. [Read more →]
On those Fire Island Follies
July 10th, 2013

Hurricane Sandy did more than just tear up the shoreline and all the infrastructure on it, lately it has become clear that it also stripped the fig leaves off of a few illusions we have about that infrastructure. And nowhere has that been more painful than with Verizon’s plans out on Fire Island, one of the largest barriers island off the shore of New York’s Long Island. [Read more →]
Metro Fiber Stats Update, July 2013
July 10th, 2013
Ok, at long last I have updated my metro fiber and on-net buildings statistics. There is a bit more data out there that may roll in in the next few weeks, but that’s always the case. In the meantime, you can check out the full list in the usual location or take a look at the abbreviated update below. [Read more →]
Regional Roundup: Lumos, GTS, Tech Valley, Alpheus
July 9th, 2013
Four quick updates from regional providers, three from the US and one from Europe: [Read more →]
Data Bytes: IBM, Open Data Centers, Internap
July 9th, 2013
Here’s a quick rundown on some news from data centers and the cloud: [Read more →]
Equinix Plans Entry Into Osaka
July 9th, 2013

The Japanese data center market must be going well for Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX, news, filings), as today they announced plans to move beyond Tokyo. They’re planning a new IBX in Osaka, with the help of K-Opticom and Kanden Energy Solutions. [Read more →]
Ramblings Jobs: PEG Bandwidth
July 8th, 2013
We have a new job listing this week from PEG Bandwidth over in the world of wireless backhaul. [Read more →]
Cloud M&A: Momentum Adds Twist
July 8th, 2013
There was a bit of consolidation in the cloud today, as Momentum announced the acquisition of the assets of Twist Networks from its parent Communications Technologies, Inc. The deal will boost the Birmingham-based cloud provider’s presence in St. Louis. [Read more →]