Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Fiber in Ohio, Indiana, Penn

I have been collecting the names of all the companies selling fiber near my current client base - and beyond. (Hey, it helps pay the mortgage when I can sell some fiber). Anyway, if you are in Ohio, Indiana, or Pennsylvania, Zayo may be the network for you IF you need 100MB or faster.

In other mid-western areas, Suddenlink may be a fit. (They also have network in WV).

I work with others too, like Level3, Global Crossing, AboveNet and Qwest. Now that Host.Net has acquired expedient and WV Fiber, they have coverage nationwide and to Europe. The problem with most fiber providers is that they don't have an exclusive route. All the MPLS networks that people "own". They don't own. They operate, maybe. When you dig down, you find that the same conduit or sheath carries more than one carrier and enterprise. Comcast expanded its network - in 2004 via an IRU from L3.

An IRU is typically a 20-year usage agreement. "Indefeasible Right of Use" or "IRU" means an exclusive, indefeasible right of use in the optical fibers or other specified property; provided that the granting of the same does not convey legal title to such fibers or other property. [Williams contract] An IRU is an asset. A lease is an expense. It has accounting differences according to NEF. But whether leased or IRU, it is strands inside a sheath. Hard to get route diversity that way. Hard to have an exclusive area too. That's why the price keeps dropping on most routes. (You should see how some routes have dropped! It's getting so an agent can't eat). But on routes without competition, just like in cities without a telecom hotel, rates are much higher. That's just supply and demand. A perfect example: in Atlanta a DS3 from lit building to lit building can be as low as $800, but go to an unlit building or outside Atlanta to a town like Buford and that DS3 now becomes $2000+. You can't get Memphis prices in central Mississippi either. Most of the cost is in the fiber loop. When you see HE.Net selling at sub-$10 per MB or Cogent at $4, it is PORT only. On a GigE port. You have to buy the whole port, not 10MB on a 1GB port. You have to be collocated in a carrier hotel (or pay for the transport to one).

4 comments:

Rob Powell said...

Have you run into KDL much? They seem to have assets in OH and WV and plans for PA.

Peter Radizeski said...

Kentucky Data Link. Yep. They bought Norlight. They own cable. Big in KY and surrounding states. Not easy to deal with because they have exclusive routes.

Sandi Mays said...

With the CenturyTel, NTI and Columbia Fibernet acquisitions Zayo will have 19,347 route miles; 1,597 building; 892 cell sites in 126 markets. Zayo's interactive network maps are available at: http://www.zayo.com/bandwidth/network/interactive-google-maps

Also, if you have a chance - check out Zayo CEO Dan Caruso's blog at www.bearonbusiness.com.

Peter Radizeski said...

Thanks for the commercial, Sandi! I usually charge $195 for that.