ChannelVision Magazine

FirstLight to Acquire PrimeLink FirstLight, a provider of fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud comput - ing and unified communications services throughout the Northeast, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Prime - Link, an internet and phone service provider in Upstate New York. The trans - action enhances FirstLight’s position in Upstate New York – including Plattsburgh, Glens Falls, Queensbury, Albany and Lake Champlain Corridor – with additional fiber capacity into Montreal, Canada. “The acquisition will deepen our fiber footprint in the North Country and provide additional fiber capacity on a unique route from Albany, N.Y., up into Montreal, Can - ada, which will help facilitate cross border communications,” said Kurt Van Wa - genen, president and CEO of FirstLight.  The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020, following the satisfaction of customary regulatory ap - provals. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. According to Trent Trahan, CEO of PrimeLink, the two companies have complementary footprints and service portfolios, as well as a shared philosophy of offering locally based service and sup - port for their communities. “Now as part of FirstLight, our goal of enhancing the region’s economics and improving the North Country’s quality of life and business climate can be better realized,” he said. “Since acquiring FirstLight in 2018, our goal has been to ensure that it has the guidance and resources necessary to support its organic and strategic growth initiatives.  This acquisition is ideal in that it enhances FirstLight’s already strong capabilities in a region it currently serves, with a client base that it is familiar support - ing,” said Kevin Genieser, senior partner at Antin Infrastructure Partners. 8.9% Percentage increase in the base of U.S. Ethernet ports in 2019. The market was buoyed by healthy demand for higher speed access to cloud, internet and VPN services,” said Rick Malone, principal of Vertical Systems Group. “During the past year, Ethernet providers focused on better monetizing service features to expand their existing business, while introducing streamlined offers to target the needs of the SMB market.” Bullying for Dark Fiber? As the large internet content pro - viders (ICPs) continue to build global systems to connect their ever-growing network of data centers, they grow increasingly reliant on communications service providers (CSPs) for both lit services and dark fiber networks. In the very high-bandwidth data center interconnect portion of the market, as Ovum analysts point out, the ICPs prefer to construct dark fiber-based networks when dark fiber is available in the market. Of course, “dark fiber has been available in selected markets for over two decades, but it is not universally available,” said Ovum. “There are islands and deserts of dark fiber availability.” Additionally, only a select few wholesale-oriented CSPs offer dark fiber at scale. Other CSPs do supply dark fiber but generally in one-off fi - nancial crunch situations. As ICPs expand beyond their lead markets of North America and Europe, they are in search of other markets that can provide dark fiber. But in many international markets, a wholesale dark fiber market does not exist, as incumbents generally have fiber but might not be structured to support dark fiber. “The ICPs’ heart- warming proposition? Sell us dark fiber, the ‘crown jewels’ of your network for ‘fractions of pennies on the dollar’ or we will fund your fu - ture competitor,” said Ovum. ICPs, said Ovum, are not offering upsides in their cloud economics rev - enue. “Few would consider this type of offer as win-win,” said the research firm. “Indeed, in the schoolyard, this type of behavior would be considered bullying.” So, what can a CSP do when the ICPs come calling for fiber? “The an - swer is to be aware, be wary, and be prepared,” advised Ovum research - ers. “ICPs’ overtures of expanding services in new territories require network connectivity. Some markets have avoided outright dark fiber sales and served via high capacity lit services. Remove the rose-tinted glasses when reviewing line-by-line contract details. Recognize the bul - lying tactics for what they are and understand all the potential risks and any concrete upsides.” ZETTABYTES 70 CHANNEL VISION | March - April, 2020