Co-location breaks out: Bell Atlantic, MFN strike dark fiber deal

After lengthy negotiations, Metromedia Fiber Network has managed to get a hall pass for dark fiber directly into Bell Atlantic's central offices. Under the agreement, MFN will be allowed to install dark fiber, which will be sold to competitive local exchange carriers and other carriers in Bell Atlantic's COs, circumventing the need to locate lines in a co-location cage.

Initially, the service will be tested in Bell Atlantic's New York COs. Upon completion of the trial, Bell Atlantic will make the service generally available.

"This landmark agreement is the result of a collaborative effort on both of our parts," said Howard Finkelstein, president of MFN. But both parties had very different strategies in mind for pursuing the agreement. For MFN, its goals are to enable CLECs to enter markets faster and more cost-effectively. "It is a key MFN strategy to provide dark fiber right to the edge for our carrier customers," said Finkelstein. In turn, Bell Atlantic is making significant steps to enable competition.

"I think Bell Atlantic is further along in this particular curve than the other [regional bell operating companies], and there is a specific reason for this," said Mike Smith, managing director at Stratecast Partners. "Bell Atlantic desperately wants into the in-region long-distance business, just like all the other RBOCs, but the difference is Bell Atlantic can almost see approval," he added.

Bell Atlantic is trying to prove to regulatory bodies that it is doing its best to meet demands for competition, said Smith.

"One of our goals is to promote competition, and this agreement offers a creative solution for those goals and Metromedia's," said Jennifer VanScoter, director of connection services negotiation and policy for Bell Atlantic.

The agreement doesn't address key issues such as the scalability of the operations support system (OSS) platform and the establishment of penalties if Bell Atlantic doesn't meet OSS-related specifications, said Smith.

In theory, Bell Atlantic is enabling its competitors to potentially take some of its business, but the reality is that it recognizes competition is essential to win in-region long-distance relief, added Smith.

In addition to the Bell Atlantic agreement, MFN announced a 20-year $57 million contract for dark fiber with Focal Communications and more European expansions into London and Amsterdam. With the European expansion, MFN plans to mirror its U.S. dark fiber model with 166,320 fiber kilometers in Europe.

MFN will use a meshed network architecture in Europe to interconnect carrier hotels together, said Vincent Galluccio, senior vice president and managing director for MFN.