Allied Fiber’s Hunter Newby Talks Challenges Faced by Metro Players

Metro Connect Panel: Practical Challenges Facing Network Build-Outs

Allied Fiber’s, CEO, Hunter Newby was among a distinguished group of industry thought leaders that discussed the challenges faced by metro players, specifically those fiber providers that are charged with filling the increasing demand through strategic build-outs. Other panelists include John Finke (Hickorytech), John Phillips (Team Fishel) and Sean Baillie (Windstream).   

Some of the key challenges discussed by the panel include:

• Speed to market
• Complacency among construction – getting construction completed in a reasonable amount of time
• Fiber gets old
• Existing fiber is fragmented and disconnected – fiber is everywhere – access to that fiber is a challenge
• Not all markets are created equal with regard to existing fiber, ease of construction, i.e., regulatory / physical landscape etc.

All of these challenges suggest that those players with an insider’s knowledge of the local market will be the most successful.

“It’s who you know!”

Dan Caruso, President of Zayo Group, is joined by Bill LaPerch, CEO of AboveNet and John Purcell, CEO of FiberTech on the first panel of Capacity’s Metro Connect USA 2012. The CEO Interviews were focused on discussing successful business strategies to create profitable and scalable metro providers. These bandwidth infrastructure providers all share the same storyline that their companies are all profitable and growing.

After hearing details on their key market focus (particularly enterprise and media) and current business strategies, Moderator Dr. Judy Reed-Smith, CEO of Atlantic ACM, asked them to discuss their future plans and trends they see.

Dan stated that the industry trend is toward a natural evolution towards consolidation. He cites Zayo’s recent acquisition of 360 as an example. He also joked that anyone in the audience who wants an exit
strategy and has assets to sell, to come see him.

Dan also stated that “when we win a customer deal, we expand our networks.” Zayo focuses on emerging cities and locations and sees a lot of opportunity in expanding their services and products to these new PoPs.

Dr. Reed-Smith closed by asking what is it that you would change about the industry. Bill stated “nothing”. We positioned ourselves well, we have a class A team. He’s proud of where his company is and where AboveNet is going.

John said Bill is right, that the fundamentals are in place for continued growth. He cited less regulatory influence and a stronger economy as issues he would like us together to change. John noted it’s not like some issues in healthcare and manufacturing where jobs are being lost. But truth is we are dependent on the economy.

Dan closed that he would increase the rate of bandwidth implementation,
and jokingly he added that he would restrict competitors’ budget. He said it’s shocking how telecom meltdown is still impacting on investors.  Although we operate our businesses more responsibly now, we need to articulate these changes, notably sustainable revenue, to investors.

Lightower Fiber Networks has opened a new office at 101 Eisenhower Parkway in Roseland, New Jersey. The office will support the increasing demand that Lightower is experiencing in the region for end-to-end fiber networking.

Lightower’s New Jersey network now extends from Princeton in the south to Mahwah in the north and to Jersey City in the east.  Lightower provides fiber-based networking to commercial buildings, data centers, and telco hotels throughout New Jersey including locations in Piscataway, New Brunswick, Edison, Carteret, Morristown, Parsippany, Patterson, Newark, Westwood, Secaucus, and Hackensack.  The complete Lightower Network totals over 6,400 route miles of fiber providing access to over 2,800 service locations throughout the Northeast.  Lightower’s new Ultra-Low Latency Network connects fifteen critical financial hubs in northern New Jersey and New York City.

For more information on Lightower, visit www.lightower.com.

This article was originally posted by ConvergeDigest.

The Metro Ethernet Forum introduced a set of “Carrier Ethernet 2.0″ specifications aimed at revolutionizing the efficiency and usability of Ethernet service delivery through the addition of three standardized features: Multi-class-of-service (Multi-CoS), Interconnect and Manageability.

Carrier Ethernet 2.0 is defined by its ability to deliver differentiated applications over interconnected, managed networks globally. Whereas the first generation of Carrier Ethernet standardized E-Line and E-LAN services, CE 2.0 standardizes Multi-CoS over eight interconnected services, including two versions of E-Line, E-LAN, E-Tree and E-Access.

Newly defined Multi-CoS extensions will now ensure standardized performance objectives across geographic boundaries, resulting in improved QoS and optimized efficiency on a global scale. New interconnect specifications extend the reach between carriers, and new management specifications provide scalability and measurability not previously possible. A new Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreement creates a standard for 4G mobile backhaul services through Multi-CoS-enable interconnects.

The Metro Ethernet Forum cited several benefits for enterprises and Service Providers, most notably better service level agreements (SLAs) per location regardless of location.

Key standards and implementation agreements supporting CE 2.0 were completed by the MEF in January. The Metro Ethernet Forum is also planning to offer CE 2.0 certifications.

http://metroethernetforum.org 

24/7 Mid-Atlantic Network is re-launching its company under new ownership. The high-capacity transport and fiber network provider serving the Baltimore, Washington, D.C. metro and Delmarva Peninsula, has been purchased by GRI Fund L.P., a Baltimore based investment group.

24/7 Mid-Atlantic Network will use its existing fiber rich network to offer an extended line of services including metro dark fiber, wireless backhaul, last mile transport and carrier-neutral colocation. As a provider of dark fiber and high-capacity transport, the 24/7 network has over 500 route miles and 50,000 fiber miles. The company offers customized fiber solutions as well as carrier-neutral colocation for those in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metro areas. Additionally, 24/7 provides interconnectivity and cross connects to Tier 1 and Tier 2 network providers at its carrier-neutral facility located in Baltimore.

Transition Consultant for 24/7 Mid-Atlantic Network, Gil Santaliz notes, “24/7 is committed to offering the same, continued quality of service to its customers while expanding its service capabilities. To remain competitive in today’s market, you must have connectivity to a reliable network provider and 24/7 has the existing fiber footprint to continue to meet its growing customers’ needs.”

Executives from 24/7 will be attending Metro Connect USA 2012 taking place February 28-29 in Miami, FL. To schedule a meeting with 24/7 at the conference, contact pr@jaymiescotto.com. For more information on 24/7 Mid-Atlantic Network, visit www.247midatlantic.com.

Glenn Russo, EVP Corporate Strategy & Development of Zayo Group will speak at Deutsche Bank Securities Media and Telecommunications Conference, taking place on February 27-29 at The Breakers® Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.

Glenn Russo will be part of “Session A” presenting on February 29 at 11:40am (EST).  The event will draw a large contingent of thought leaders in the media, telecommunication, publishing/internet industries, including institutional investors, private investors, members of the venture capital community, and industry experts. Zayo provides Bandwidth Infrastructure services over its regional, metro fiber and fiber to the tower networks that span 164 markets, across the United States.

To learn more about Zayo’s products and services, visit www.zayo.com.

Microsoft may have developed a successful “To The Cloud!” campaign but how many people actually know how the cloud works? Some may see cloud computing as the prime future of the internet but few understand the complex connectivity that servers and SAN storage require in order to maintain such a profound form of communications. As companies continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in order to “plug into the cloud”, it would seem important for investors to know exactly where their money is going.

Clouds are expected to meet strict demands and unfortunately consumers don’t realize that their storage within a single data center proposes a major flaw if that data center were to fail. In order to counter this problem, next-generation communications experts like Allied Fiber look toward dark fiber. Dark fiber has proven to be useful in linking multiple data centers and providing a medium for direct intra-site IP connectivity. Instead of relying on a single point of storage, clients may replicate their data within several locations and decrease the odds of catastrophe.

Allied Fiber understands the problem the United States faces as data center access has a large concentration in major cities but lacks availability in smaller cities. If consumers wish to access secure next-generation communication methods like cloud computing, the USA needs a new, national, carrier-neutral dark fiber and colocation system and it is imperative to our economy as mobile and broadband demands continue to increase.

For more information on cloud computing and dark fiber, please visit: http://technology.ezinemark.com/to-the-cloud-7d3407dff43c.html

For more information about Allied Fiber, please visit www.alliedfiber.com

Zayo Group is expanding its Northeast route to include a high-capacity, regional network for Ethernet and Wavelengths transport. Zayo’s Northeast expansion will provide transport services at speeds of 1Gigabit, 2.5Gigabit and 10Gigabit per second with a total network capacity of 800Gigabits. The new network will provide services between Ashburn, VA, Chicago, IL, Cleveland, OH, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA. The build is scheduled to be complete by end of first quarter 2012.

The expansion includes service points at the following addresses:

• Ashburn, VA: 21715 Filigree
• Chicago, IL: 350 E. Cermak
• Cleveland, OH: 1525 Rockwell
• New York, NY: 60 Hudson & 111 8th Ave.
• Philadelphia, PA: 2401 Locust & 401 N. Broad

For more information and specific network routes, visit www.zayo.com/northeast-network-route.

Bjarni Thorvardarson, CEO of Hibernia Atlantic will speak at Metro Connect USA 2012 taking place February 28-29 in Miami, FL. Bjarni will speak during the Executive Keynote panel at 9:00am on Tuesday, February 28 titled “Financial and Strategic Predictions for the M&A Landscape in 2012.” This panel will examine the trends in the metro markets around M&A and include participant’s predictions for the year ahead.

Metro Connect is the premier industry event for C-Level executives from the US metro and local access markets. Hibernia Atlantic is a transatlantic submarine cable and terrestrial fiber network that offers over 120 redundant network Points of Presence (PoPs) throughout Canada, US, UK, and mainland Europe on over 24,000 kilometers of network. Hibernia provides secure and diverse dedicated Ethernet, DTM and optical- level service up to GigE, 10G and LanPhy wavelengths and traditional SONET/SDH services.

For more information on Hibernia Atlantic, visit www.hiberniaatlantic.com.

Ken desGarennes, Chief Financial Officer of the Zayo Group, will participate in Morgan Stanley’s 2012 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. The conference is taking place February 27^th to March 1^st, 2012 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California.

Ken will participate during the Zayo corporate presentation commencing on February 28, 2012 at 4:40 p.m. PST. As the CFO of Zayo, Ken is responsible for stewarding the company’s finances and various strategic initiatives. He was recently recognized by the Denver Business Journal as a 2011 CFO of the Year for his work with Zayo.

To learn more about Zayo, visit www.zayo.com.