AboveNet Expanding Services at Data Centers

By David Gross

For years, facility-based CLECs have struggled to fill many of the optical links they've run to corporate office buildings.   With 5-10 tenants in some locations, it can be a struggle for a provider to generate enough revenue to get a good return on the capital invested in the fiber lateral that hits the building.    The data center has provided a great opportunity to overcome this challenge by offering so many corporate customers in one physical location.  And few providers have seized this opportunity as well as AboveNet has.   This is one factor behind the company's 16% net margins - actual profit, not EBITDA.    This is the highest I've ever seen for a bandwidth provider.

Earlier this week, AboveNet announced a new sales initiative to provide optical connectivity services at over 400 data centers across the country.   Its footprint follows many of the major public data center markets, including DC, New York, and Silicon Valley.   A more detailed map of the company's data center POPs is available here.

CENX Reaches 15 Million Ethernet Service Locations, Adds AboveNet as Partner

By David Gross

With LightReading's Ethernet Expo taking place today and tomorrow, I expected Carrier Ethernet Exchange news to burn the press wire this week, and CENX and AboveNet have not disappointed.   CENX announced that it has reached 15 million ESLs, or Ethernet Service Locations, on its network.    In order to reach such a high number, they are likely counting computers located in buildings where their member carriers provide Ethernet service.   They announced that they had reached 10 million in June.

Additionally, AboveNet announced that it is launching its Ethernet eXchange Hub for carriers that want to reach customers through its network, and that it will be co-located at both CENX and Equinix Carrier Ethernet locations in major markets, such as New York, Chicago, London, Washington, and San Francisco.   The company already offers standard Ethernet Exchange services in these large markets, but the Ethernet eXchange Hub will allow carriers to offer AboveNet services to their customers, not just to interconnect with the provider, which they can do now.   This new service will be available next quarter.