Telecom Ramblings

GlobeNet, the international arm of the Brazilian giant Oi, has completed its upgrade of its submarine cable systems connecting the Americas.  The extra 200Gbps gives them 560Gbps in all, and positions them for the growing bandwidth demands between the two continents.  They also claim the lowest latency paths between New York and the Brazilian financial center of Sao Paolo, a benefit of the cable route that makes the trip via Bermuda down to [Read more →]

They may not actually have a wholesale LTE network in place yet and the AT&T/T-Mobile deal surely didn’t help its cause much, but LightSquared has been making progress lately nonetheless.  On Monday, Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP, news, filings) signed on for LTE roaming, and yesterday it was the consumer electronics retailier Best Buy throwing its weight behind their wholesale plan.  Earlier this month, [Read more →]

Phoenix-bound no longer, i/o Data Centers has opened a huge new facility on the east coast.  It is located in the former New York Times plant at Exit 10 off the New Jersey Turnpike in Edison, which spans 830,000 square feet.  That much space would take a long time to build out, but this is i/o’s new modular showcase and the first modules are already ready to go.  They build the modules on demand in Phoenix at their ‘factory’ and shipping them over via tractor trailer.  [Read more →]

You know, I’m getting a bit sick of reading about how the AT&T/T-Mobile deal is going to single-handedly kill Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S, news, filings).  You know, the ones where it sounds as if Verizon doesn’t stoop to buying them by next month then the ground will open up beneath their feet, swallow them whole, and belch out pieces of shredded Clearwire.  Yeah, those.  So I just have to say something. [Read more →]

Western regional operator 360networks is adding some more metro fiber to its diet, courtesy of Zayo Group (news, filings).  The two companies formalized a strategic relationship under which Zayo Fiber Solutions will provide metro dark fiber connectivity, which 360Networks will use to expand its local reach in support of its transport and IP business.  [Read more →]

The content and bandwidth markets in South America have been growing rapidly for some time now, and the region is looming large in the plans for many network operators.  Hence, I was not surprised to see Level 3 Communications (NYSE:LVLT, news, filings) make another move southward with today’s announced agreement with INTERNEXA.  INTERNEXA, besides using more than its quota of capital letters, operates a fiber network 18,000km spanning seven countries with special focus beyond the largest countries of Brazil and Argentina.  INTERNEXA is helping Level 3 expand its CDN to [Read more →]

Lots of news this week to keep up with, so let’s look at a few items:

Western regional operator Integra Telecom took another step toward a fiber-focused future and away from its more traditional CLEC roots with the launch of two Ethernet service offerings.  With both Ethernet Private Line and Ethernet Virtual Private Line products on tap and MEF-certified, I expect we’ll be seeing them hooking up at [Read more →]

I’ve seen a few articles lately looking at who the winners and losers are if the AT&T/T-Mobile comes to fruition, and I’d like to throw in a few more on both sides that nobody’s talking about:

Winners (Other than AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, and Verizon/Vodafone): [Read more →]

Midwestern operator US Signal did more than join the Telx Ethernet Exchange yesterday, they also announced a new expansion that takes them beyond their traditional territory and into the Great Plains.  They have apparently added a new regional loop westward from Green Bay to Minneapolis, then south to Des Moines, and back to their existing turf in Chicago.  Along the way they also added off-ramps in [Read more →]

The news from the flourishing Ethernet segment continues to flow, with three interesting items coming out of CompTel today. [Read more →]

If it weren’t for, umm, other news, Sprint’s alliance with Google Voice might have had a pretty nice impact this morning.  They are letting customers use their Sprint mobile number as their Google Voice number, which adds some nice functionality right off the bat.  They are also preloading Google Voice’s Android app onto the new Nexus S 4G, also announced today.  But it will all be drowned out by the big merger news.  The announcement of the proposed buyout of T-Mobile USA by AT&T has far-reaching implications, but the most immediate of them are neither for AT&T nor Deutsche Telecom, but rather for Sprint. [Read more →]

On Sunday of course, AT&T announced it’s intention to acquire T-Mobile USA.  A fair amount of the commentary on the internet thus far, including my own, expresses doubt whether regulators will let the deal pass.  But perhaps that is wishful thinking on the part of pundits hoping for a real fight to cover where the evil mega-corporations actually lose?  Have your say, vote here: [Read more →]

The implications of yesterday’s blockbuster announcement by AT&T of its intention to buy T-Mobile USA are just beginning to reverberate.  While most of the press will be looking at how this changes the dynamics of the mobile space, there are some pretty major implications for a swath of the independent fiber operators.  The reason is simple:  if this deal goes through, then anyone who lists T-Mobile as one of their top customers for wholesale network services is going to feel pain. [Read more →]

Apparently T-Mobile USA really was for sale, but it wasn’t Sprint that stepped up to the plate.  Instead, Ma Bell’s grandchild is doing the buying, taking yet another step back toward its dominant position.  AT&T (NYSE:T, news, filings) announced on Sunday its intention to buy the American mobile arm of the German incumbent for $39B.  The combination of #4 and #2 will easily restore AT&T’s position as the largest mobile carrier in the USA.  That is, it will if [Read more →]

What to do when you’ve got oodles of cash, but nothing you do with it makes your shareholder’s happy?  That’s been the story of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO, news, filings) over the last year or two, as they have been taking the tens of billions of dollars on their balance sheet and buying everything that isn’t nailed down, but not making anybody happy as growth has disappointed.  The solution?  To bring an end to an era, knuckle under, and declare a dividend. [Read more →]

Lots of Ethernet-related news in the past few days:

IPNETZONE went with XO Holdings (news, filings) for nationwide Ethernet access for the MPLS Exchange Platform it launched last September.  XO has put enough money into the EoC market to have become one of its larger players, with services in forty or more markets via over 400 LSOs, and hence offers IPNETZONE an easy route to a much larger customer base.  IPNETZONE has been busy assembling network assets nationwide over the past year, having inked [Read more →]

Everybody’s favorite over-the-top poster boy, Netflix, is said to be about to buy the rights to an original TV series.  Maybe they are, and maybe they aren’t, but it all sounds to me like a rerun.  I’m thinking of Google and some of the projects they’ve done and why they did them.  You know what I mean…  Bidding on wireless spectrum they didn’t really have any plans to use.  Spearheading a [Read more →]

In its second European infrastructure announcement of the week, Level 3 Communications (NYSE:LVLT, news, filings) says it has optimized more of its network for the low latency crowd.  New routes to the exchanges in Milan and Zurich are now available from their other major financial hubs, including Madrid which they added just after New Year’s.  Yesterday’s news of a new route connecting Toulouse and bisecting their previous Paris-Madrid-Marseilles loop is probably not directly related, but they are clearly spending money beefing up their infrastructure to the south of the original Level 3 build. [Read more →]

Yesterday the FCC posted an article on their Blogband blog attributed jointly to all five commissioners, promising yet again to take on issues that have befuddled it for a decade or more – intercarrier compensation and universal service.  They started looking at them again last month of course, but the first step is the one they’ve never had a problem with.  Yesterday they began with another thing the FCC is good at:  workshops, or in their words “open, public workshops to identify solutions to key issues.”  As if we don’t already know the key [Read more →]

I read with interest the recent news that Nokia Siemens is trying to restructure its proposed acquisition of Motorola Solutions.  Apparently, regulatory approval is the hangup.  No, not in the US, nor in Europe, but in China where they have delayed clearing the purchase twice now – to the extent that the transaction is somewhat in doubt at this point.  Yes, China is apparently very worried about this deal, and the driving force behind their concerns is none other than Huawei. [Read more →]

Megapath (news) is increasing its commitment to copper, and especially Ethernet over Copper.  They intend to add EoC in 15 markets this year, and another 35 by the end of 2011.  They also expect to add more than 300 central offices this year, and are ‘laying a foundation for adding products beyond Ethernet over copper (EoC) such as [Read more →]

Southern New Jersey has long been short on respect unless you’re a casino connoisseur.  I know, as I grew up in North Jersey, where nobody’s quite sure why anyone bothers to live down there.  Actually, nowadays I do live down there, so I found it interesting to see Fibertech announce plans for a major metro/regional fiber build in the area.  Fibertech changed owners over the winter, with Court Square partners taking the reins and promising a new round of expansion, and this is apparently the first volley. [Read more →]

Ah Paris in the springtime, you can just smell the love in the air.  Oh wait, that’s just another IBX buildout for Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX, news, filings), spring doesn’t start until next week.  Equinix never stops building of course, and this will be #4 for them in Paris – and none too soon it seems.  Phase 1 of its PA3 facility is already ‘effectively full’ and the second phase is due to open in [Read more →]