New York RLECs form regional network

New York rural local exchange carrier Warwick Valley Telephone has formed a consortium of New York independent LECs to create a regional fiber transport network, consolidating long-distance and data traffic costs.

The 13 RLECs will build their existing 555 miles of local fiber with 1200 miles of leased dark fiber and 350 miles of new fiber builds to link their local networks to central POPs through which all of the 13 independents can connect to one another or offload to the IXCs or Verizon’s tandem offices. Currently, because of their isolation from the larger New York markets, the RLECS must make as many as three network hops to connect their customers to each other. In addition to combining network assets, the consortium, called EsiNet, will use its collective leverage to negotiate better long-distance rates and save money aggregating Internet traffic.

"This fiber ring will touch a large portion of Verizon’s tandem switches in New York," said Lynn Pike, president and CEO of Warwick Telephone. "Now if you wanted to connect two locations from Warwick to Poughkeepsie you have to connect through us, through Citizens Telecom and finally through Verizon. With the new network, it’s just one hop."

Warwick will take the lead in the venture, putting up $950,000 in capital and taking a 25% stake, while the remaining 12 LECs will contribute a portion of their fiber capacity as well as additional funds. Warwick chief technology officer Larry Drake will also become acting general manager of EsiNet.

Pike said the RLECs in New York have been talking about this venture for 10 years as a way to bring to more efficient broadband technology to their territories and possibly spur economic development. "There’s a reason why they call us independents," Pike said. "We couldn’t come to an agreement."

But last year Warwick launched broadcast video services, making it one of the first independents in New York to offer triple-play services. With a territory covering only 18,000 homes, the cost of deploying its own video head-end were prohibitive so Warwick revived the regional network initiative, promising to sell its video services to other carriers in the network.