Telecom Ramblings

Three interesting contracts landed this morning, let’s take a quick look at each.

RCN Metro, the metro fiber division of RCN Business (NASDAQ:RCNI, news, filings), won a deal with Pacific Northwest Net. They will be providing multiple ethernet circuits between Boston and New York, their two largest markets.  By its name, Pacific Northwest Net sounds like an unlikely buyer of east coast transport services, but [Read more →]

The Financial Times is reporting that British Telecom (NYSE:BT, news, filings) and the UK regulator Ofcom are discussing the opening of the incumbent operators ducts.  That could of course lead to big changes throughout the UK bandwidth sector, since in theory it would inable operators to pull their own fiber for many, many routes without having to dig up the streets.  That could in turn eventually lead to many more networks competing at multiple [Read more →]

Industry interest in itcd seems to have spiked lately – two relatively unremarkable bits of news (a refi, and some channel upheaval) have resulted in almost two dozen comments here on this site, and I have seen a marked increase in search queries on the subjects such as ‘delatcom rumors’.  Could Deltacom be preparing to sell itself??  Of course it’s not really so simple, the things a company does maximize its potential as an M&A target are so often the things it ought to do anyway to improve its position in the market:  improve the balance sheet, clean out the garage, etc. However, I thought I’d summarize in one place the cases for and against [Read more →]

After holding back the tide through 2009, it seems that AT&T (NYSE:T, news, filings) could no longer stall the inevitable.  In quick succession, both the Sling Player and Skype have apparently been given the green light to operate on the iPhone over the operators 3G network.  Sling Media’s app was unceremoniously rejected as a bandwidth hog back in May, and restrictions on Skype usage were fodder for many months in the network neutrality debates.  Now the barbarians have successfully entered the castle, and the question [Read more →]

According to reports, German telecommunications powerhouse Deutsche Telecom AG (ETR:DTE, news, filings) is considering an IPO or even a spinoff of its T-Mobile USA unit.  The idea would be to provide the unit with new funding with which it could reverse its flagging fortunes.  One suggestion is that they offer up some 20% of the company, which could raise some $4B for a 4G network buildout.  No doubt that would make the equipment providers very happy, since four national 4G network builds in progress over the next couple of years would be quite a boon. [Read more →]

So much of the news in the sector lately has been about hooking up data centers, both new and old, as fiber operators add depth to their networks.

Today national CLEC PAETEC (news, filings) announced plans to build a new data center in Andover, to the north of Boston.  The two floor facility will add some 40,000 square feet of raised floor space for customer use, and 92,700 square feet total.  This is the first in a series of [Read more →]

Many eyes have been trained on today’s report by Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM, news, filings).  The company upset the status quo in the fall by lowering prices and setting off a bit of a pricing war.  Events went better than planned, and in December they unexpectedly offered increased guidance.  But what is really going on in the CDN marketplace has been somewhat opaque until these numbers.  What numbers, you ask?  Oh yeah…Here is a quick table: [Read more →]

Colocation and managed hosting provider Savvis (news, filings) [a subsidiary of CenturyLink (NYSE:CTL, news, filings)] reported Q4 and full year 2009 earnings this morning.  The company took a harder hit than most in the datacenter space during last year’s economic downturn, as churn from large financial customers took hold.  And just a few weeks ago, CEO Phil Koen stepped down.   But in the fourth quarter they seem to have regained some of their operational footing.  Here are the numbers in the context of prior quarters: [Read more →]

Optimum Lightpath, the metro fiber division of Cablevision, announced today that it is offering 40G transport links to its customers, upgradeable to 100G when the time comes.  They will be initially targeting the services at the low-latency driven financial sector in the New York bandwidth market, which is currently the focus of a great deal of attention.  No doubt over the next year or two [Read more →]

Cable giant Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA, news, filings) is apparently buying New Global Telecom (NGT).  While there has been no formal announcement, there is a memo circulating at Comcast about the purchase.  Terms are of course not available, but it’s safe to say that for Comcast this purchase is small relative to its overall bulk.  However, strategically it could be of much greater importance, as they are not [Read more →]

The content markets division of Level 3 Communications (NYSE:LVLT, news, filings) and its Vyvx predecessor have been delivering the Superbowl video feed from the venue to the broadcast studio for over two decades now.  In the past that meant delivering the raw feeds to a production truck outside the stadium, compressing it, and then sending on the smaller, more easily managed feed from there.  This year, however, they will be skipping the truck and delivering raw 1.5Gbps HD feeds via fiber from the stadium in Miami to CBS’s broadcast studio in New York City.  From there they will also [Read more →]

According to a Reuters report, Indian telecommunications giant Reliance Communications is apparently having little luck shopping its Globalcom division since supposedly putting it on the market in mid December.  The deadline for bids has already been extended, and there just haven’t been many potential buyers even showing up to kick the tires.  Of course, a $3B price tag does tend to limit the field substantially to begin with.  Reliance, for its part, says it is not trying to sell these assets – but that is a claim that nobody seems to actually believe.   [Read more →]

Last week, Texas regional and metro provider Alpheus Communications joined the growing list of expansions by fiber-based telecoms in early 2010.  The company has invested in additional fiber in the Houston metro area, adding a major new ring in North and West Harris County.  The fiber passes through the energy and high tech areas along [Read more →]

Southeastern CLEC itcd they announced that it intends to sell $325M in senior secured notes due 2016 to qualified institutional buyers this week.  Then intend to use the proceeds to refinance their senior secured credit facilities, which totaled $307M or so at the end of the third quarter.  The credit facilities will come due in 2013 and 2014 so there was no huge urgency to refinance, and the interest rates are pretty low currently so if anything their interest expenses will rise.  However, the terms are (I believe) fairly [Read more →]

When the issue of Network Neutrality gets discussed in the media, usually we hear from the same cast of characters:  ILECs and Cable MSOs on one side, and the most outspoken content providers on the other.  But there are other voices amongst the competitive service providers that don’t fit that mold.  One such voice is that of Dave Schaeffer, Founder and CEO of Cogent Communications – one of the few fiber operators out there actively [Read more →]

Time to catch up on news that slipped past my nets, something that happens more frequently during earnings season of course.  Here we have three contracts worth mentioning.

Nationwide competitive carrier PAETEC (news, filings) won a software deal at [Read more →]

It has been quite some time since the PR department at Level 3 Communications (NYSE:LVLT, news, filings) has gotten such a good workout.  Yesterday the company’s Content Markets division won an interesting deal with Zolmo to deliver Jamie Oliver “20 Minute Meals” to the iPhone.  They will be providing caching, geo-targeting, and streaming video, amongst other services.  Now, I for one would cringe at propping up my iPhone in the kitchen while I cook, let’s just say I’m not known for maintaining a clean counter and leaving it at that.  But then, I don’t actually [Read more →]

Networking equipment provider Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR, news, filings) announced its earnings today for Q4 and the full year 2009, and if there were any doubts about the improving environment in the sector then there are fewer today.  Revenues of $941.5M, up 2% from the same quarter last year and up an impressive 14% from the third quarter.  Non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.32 were up from $0.23 in the prior quarter and matched the performance of the same quarter last year.  Both numbers were well above [Read more →]

We have been seeing expansions across the competitive fiber space as companies kick off 2010. Here are a few more that I hadn’t gotten to yet.

Fiberlight gave details of its expansion in the Baltimore area that I had heard was underway.  The company is constructing an additional 100 route miles of fiber to their network, expanding beyond the downtown loops.  Laurel, Columbia, Elkridge, and Greenbelt will all benefit from the additional connectivity.  Along with last year’s new loop out to Culpeper VA, [Read more →]

Telecommunications equipment challenger Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN, news, filings) reported fourth quarter earnings yesterday after the bell.  Revenues of $90.2M were up 8% sequentially from the prior quarter, and 5% from the same quarter last year, and the number beat analyst estimates.  Net loss per share of $0.07 was also a penny better than expected.  Infinera offered Q1 guidance for revenues of $92-94M and a net loss of $0.10-0.11, which were probably both larger than expected.  The unnamed internet content provider that was mentioned in the company’s Q3 call became [Read more →]

Joining the 2010 expansion parade, XO Holdings (news, filings) has made a move of its own.  The company announced today an 800 mile expansion of its fiber backbone into southern Texas, adding a loop through Corpus Christie, McAllen, Harlingen, Laredo, and Victoria.  The company is also adding a new international gateway at the Mexican border in McAllen, which along with its other gateways to Latin America in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Miami, will improve the company’s connectivity to the region. [Read more →]

TDS Telecom announced today the completion of the first phase of its 10G interstate IP and transport network.  The newly built network hooks up the company’s broadband markets in 30 states.  The network initially consists of some 45 10G wavelengths, of which at least 25 are being provided by Level 3.   Level 3 Communications (NYSE:LVLT, news, filings) also expects to be providing voice services as well to TDS in a growing relationship. [Read more →]

Telecommunications giant Verizon (NYSE:VZ, news, filings) reported it’s Q4 and full year results this morning, opening earnings season with … well not with a bang but not a whimper either.  When you’re as big and diverse as these guys are, I guess it’s hard to sneak up on anyone. Revenues of $27.1B were in-line, as were adjusted earnings per share of $0.54.  Wireless subscriber additions of 2.2M were higher than expected, but most of that came through wholesale.  Total wireline subscribers ‘shockingly’ continued to [Read more →]