RCN buys Con Ed’s telecom business

Consolidated Edison has agreed to sell its telecom subsidiary, Con Ed Communications, to cable provider RCN for $32 million in cash, the companies announced today.

The announcement comes about a year after the electric utility announced an agreement to sell those same assets to FiberNet Telecom Group for $37 million in cash. That deal was cancelled in May due to an impasse in contract negotiations.

Con Ed Communications' 560-route-mile fiber network, built with more than $200 million in investment, utilizes its parent company’s conduits and rights of way to reach more than 150 buildings in New York City. It includes a base of mainly enterprise customers that yielded tens of millions of dollars in revenue in 2004. At the end of last year, CEC employed about 85 people.

The assets will more than double RCN’s network capacity in New York, Northern New Jersey and Connecticut, deepening its reach into residential neighborhoods, the cable provider said in a statement issued today. “CEC also provides our Business Solutions group the ability to market a route diverse from [Empire City Subway] ducts, adds ten valuable river crossings, and enables us to serve a broader set of key customers,” RCN said.

The companies, which were not immediately available for comment, expect the acquisition to close in the first quarter of 2006.