By: Laurie Samper, Contributing Writer, CloudPOST
Welcome to the digital world where the only constant is perpetual change and evolution. As companies navigate through this continuous state of flux, they often look to industry leaders with the vision and expertise to drive innovation and success, and help organizations prepare for what lies ahead. One such industry leader is FiberLight, a fiber-optic network provider with over 20 years of experience building and maintaining high-density networks. CloudPOST recently sat down with FiberLight’s CFO Kevin Coyne to learn about what makes this company tick.
CP: What market segments are the main focus for FiberLight?
KC: At FiberLight, we cater to a full range of verticals within the wholesale carrier and enterprise market. Recently, we have seen increased demand for our services from the education vertical, specifically in Texas and healthcare vertical. In addition, we focus on wireless carriers, finance, healthcare, legal, U.S. government, and more. In a nutshell, FiberLight’s main focus remains on the enterprise versus a direct-to-consumer model.
CP: What are some of the major services provided by FiberLight?
KC: Put simply, we are a fiber infrastructure and services provider. Specifically, we sell a very large amount of bandwidth via Dark Fiber with Layer 2 switching. At Fiberlight, we’re all about big pipes upwards of 100G, as well as the provisioning of managed solutions and lit services such as Wireless Backhaul, wholesale Ethernet and more. One of our more cutting-edge solutions, Dual-Stacking, is helping to bring the industry into the future as we create a simplified way to connect both IPv4 and IPv6 Internet network users and enable a painless transition between the technologies for our customers.
CP: A major trend in today’s industry is mobile backhaul. Is that an area of focus for FiberLight?
KC: Absolutely. Back in 2012, we won a large contract in Texas for approximately 800 towers across the state, which was our initial entry into this segment. This has continued to be a major focus as we drive company growth. Tier 2 and 3 carriers are coming out from smaller markets while macro cells, small cells and Cloud Radio Access Networks (C-RAN) are all driving increased demand for bandwidth and mobility — and we’re more than prepared to satisfy that need.
CP: What about small cell dark fiber for mobile operators? Do you consider that a major development for FiberLight?
KC: Many of our competitors are attempting to develop turnkey solutions; however, we’re doing just the opposite in this specific service segment. In my experience, I’ve discovered that most carriers want to have more control, and FiberLight offers that sweet spot of providing assistance through dark fiber provisioning while allowing customers to maintain their general autonomy.
CP: How about the education vertical? Do you think it’s ready for dark fiber?
KC: The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) is pushing to persuade school systems to purchase dark fiber as they begin to fully comprehend its capabilities. While these organizations certainly want dark fiber, it really comes down to developing the right skills and having the necessary resources to manage these telecommunication services internally.
CP: Leasing options in this industry are quickly changing. What have you witnessed through your experience in regards to leasing?
KC: FiberLight is a unique company in that we offer not only leasing opportunities, but also “bills of sale” to outright own that fiber asset for life. Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) terms are not shortening from a lease perspective. From what I’ve seen, when customers lease fiber, they are investing a significant amount of money for optics and equipment, and as such, fiber leasing trends between 5 years and 20 years. On the other side, we typically see the majority of outright dark fiber sales through carriers and established Fortune 500 companies. For us, a lot of this is driven by the organic expansion of our networks.
CP: Do you have any closing remarks you would like to share with readers?
KC: There is an increasing demand for capacity that is only growing with each passing day. This growth is driving the need for more dark fiber opportunities and FiberLight is one of the few providers that can offer all of the services necessary to develop an organization that remains innovative and successful. Our ultimate goal is to help companies establish a superior level of connectivity, whether that means supplying high-density pipes for content delivery or preparing them for the shift in Internet protocol.
If you are interested in learning more about FiberLight and its offerings, visit www.fiberlight.com.
