CLECs build out metro fiber

Competitive carriers have announced a spate of expansions to their metro and regional fiber networks of late.

In January, Time Warner Telecom began adding an 86-mile fiber loop to its 1100-mile regional network in North Carolina, according to a report last week in the Charlotte Business Journal. Construction should be complete in July, the report said.

Competitive carrier TelCove, which acquired network assets in several cities last year from KMC Telecom, has expanded its Florida fiber network to 2700 route miles, doubling the number of markets it serves in that state to 14.

And on Monday, managed hosting and data center provider NET2EZ announced that, with the help of network provider AboveNet, it had doubled the capacity of its Los Angeles metro fiber ring to 20 Gb/s and extended it to reach El Segundo, Calif., some 20 miles away.

Last month XO Communications announced it would double the capacity of its 18,000-route-mile OC-192 transport network using equipment from Infinera.

“We have been working with the metro players…and have noticed incredible activity among the group,” said Judy Reed Smith, chief executive officer of research analysis firm Atlantic-ACM.

The news is consistent with reports from equipment vendors last year of an increase in demand for overhauling metro and long-haul networks. But it also illustrates business trends in the CLEC sector, Smith said.

“The new builds only indirectly have to do with consumer needs,” Smith said. “The loss of [unbundled network element platforms] means that telecom players need local access alternatives to the Bells. In addition to UNE-P replacement, the [voice-over-IP] substitution for the [public switched telephone network] and other drivers of data for every business are driving those fiber investments in many cities.”