Level 3 completes AT&T asset buy

Divestiture orders are spreading AT&T and Verizon fiber assets through the competitive industry. Level 3 Communications today announced that it has completed the acquisition of fiber assets from AT&T in Detroit, Hartford, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Francisco and St. Louis. AboveNet announced it has acquired 60 building access fiber connections held by AT&T in Los Angeles and Chicago as well as 180 building access fiber connections held by Verizon in New York, Washington/Baltimore and Philadelphia.

In each case, the selling company was fulfilling the terms of merger agreements by divesting routes in areas where there would no longer be competition once AT&T and SBC Communications merged or Verizon and MCI joined forces. The sales were made after a competitive bidding process was conducted.

Level 3 said it got indefeasible rights of use (IRUs) for dark fiber connections to over 200 buildings and more than 1,600 metro fiber route miles within the six cities. Level 3 said it also retains intermediate splice rights, which means it will be able to add new buildings to the existing networks.

“With over 25,000 metro fiber route miles and more than 6,500 on-net buildings, Level 3 is continuing to expand the reach of our network in metropolitan areas,” said Kevin O'Hara, president and chief operating officer of Level 3, in a prepared statement. “The addition of these assets -- the majority of which are new to the Level 3 network -- builds on our expansive metro footprint and supports our enterprise business strategy by offering additional network access points and enhancing revenue opportunities in key markets.”

AboveNet, which had 1,100 optically connected buildings on its network in 14 U.S. metro markets before these transactions, said it obtained either IRUs or service agreements for the fiber facilities it won.

“The addition of these buildings to our already robust network in these markets enables us to further expand our reach to key business locations in metro areas and meet the growing demand of our enterprise customers as well as offer them a secure, reliable, and diverse backbone network to connect,” said AboveNet's President and CEO Bill LaPerch, in a prepared statement.